We write as patient representatives of more than 100 patient advocacy organizations to ask each of you to support H.R. 485, the Protecting Healthcare for All Patients Act. This bill will protect vulnerable Americans by banning the use of Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) in all federal programs.
Why do we need to ban QALY? In a time when we are demanding more evidence and scientific rigor from the treatments being developed and approved, why would we turn their coverage determination in federal programs over to an arbitrary metric? The QALY is an antiquated metric that does not meet today’s scientific standards for the practice of evidence-based medicine. It is a troubling measure used to place a value on a person’s life, discounting the worth of the disabled, aged, and those living with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.
In the simplest of terms, QALYs state that people who are very sick, old, or disabled have a lower value. Ultimately, use of QALYs translates into an ultra-utilitarian view, meaning that fewer resources should be spent on those deemed to be elderly, disabled, or sick because one year of their life is assumed to be “lower quality” and thus worth less than that of a “perfectly healthy” person.
Join us! Tell your Representatives: Pass H.R. 485 now! Together, we can create a fairer healthcare system where illness doesn’t determine your chance at a healthy life. #NoMoreQALY #ProtectAllPatients #PatientsRising