Page 4 - College Advantage - A Publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology – Spring/Summer 2024

4 CollegeAdvantage
ADVOCACY ADVANTAGE
By J. Allen Meadows, MD, FACAAI, Executive Director, Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
J. Allen Meadows, MD, FACAAI
The College’s Advocacy
Council – working overtime
for you
The ACAAI Advocacy Council has been working overtime for College members this year on issues that are important to practicing allergists.
Drug Costs
Inhalers
The staff for the Senate HELP Committee met with College representatives to get information on asthma inhaler use and prices. They were looking for:
1. General information about different inhaler products for asthma, their cost, what they treat, how they are prescribed for different patients, etc.
2. The benefits of inhalers to patients - e.g., keeping them out of the E.D., quality of life, etc.
3. Information about barriers related to access, cost, reimbursement, and coverage.
4. Details on how these barriers impact patients and whether they impact specific populations.
HELP Committee members were appreciative of the information the College leaders provided. The Advocacy Council intends to continue building that relationship and to be an ongoing resource to the Committee on a range of health issues in the future.
Continued on page 5 Return to page 1