Living with arthritis is enough to deal with day to day. Who needs the added challenge of navigating a complex health care system to get the treatments required to manage it?
At the Arthritis Foundation, we have an unwavering commitment to conquering arthritis in the long term and helping the more than 50 million Americans living with this debilitating and life-altering disease overcome everyday obstacles in the short term.
To achieve this, we are constantly listening to our community to identify current areas of concern – areas where we need to take action to improve lives today.
在我们倾听的过程中，我们听到我们的社区越来越担心他们是否有能力及时获得负担得起的药物。对一些人来说，了解医疗系统就像了解他们的疾病一样困难。我们认识到，帮助关节炎患者解决他们面临的复杂医疗问题是我们的工作。该基金会在通过州立法议程解决准入问题方面有着成功的记录。
To more proactively address the concerns of our constituents, we have launched a new initiative called Prescription for Access, and we have invited and will continue to invite key leaders from the pharmaceutical industry, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, health care providers and key policymakers to meet with senior Arthritis Foundation leadership to create a shared understanding of the issues people with arthritis are facing and to formulate a new agenda for the Foundation centered on real-time short- and mid-term solutions.
These discussions have allowed key members in all related arenas to provide insights and address critical issues related to the complexities of the health care system and, in particular, the high out-of-pocket costs of prescription medications for people with arthritis.
Our discussions have ranged from consolidating available resources to help alleviate some of those costs in the short term, to mid-term solutions like finding ways to help make navigating health care an easier task for our community.
We are pleased to have the opportunity to take a draft of these proposed actions to this week’s Conference of Champions, a meeting of approximately 400 volunteers from across the country. Here we will have the opportunity to talk with individuals in focus groups, one-on-one meetings and roundtable discussions.
This critical dialogue about drug costs and barriers to care is key to ensuring that people with arthritis can access the treatments they so urgently need. We realize we MUST lead these discussions.
我们的选民正在为我们复杂的医疗体系付出代价。为了成为“是的”的捍卫者，我们正在探索这个系统，寻找能够立即为我们服务的人提供帮助的实际解决方案。
Update 11/12/2016:Constant Commitment in the Wake of Transition, by Ann Palmer, Arthritis Foundation President & CEO
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