Advocacy

Advocacy Template Letters

One mission of the CIS Advocacy Committee is to facilitate medically necessary diagnostic testing and treatments by providing clinicians access to template letters. In an effort to assist with coverage from insurance companies, designated template letters are available for download and editing below.

Disclaimer: These template letters (IVIG, SCIG, and Genetic Testing) available through CIS should only serve as a guideline for therapy, and CIS is not responsible for any financial burden or adverse outcomes that may arise by use of the templates.

Statement on SCIG and IVIG

With the recent decision by some commercial health insurers to discontinue coverage for subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIG) therapy and require patients to transition to a covered intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), the CIS Advocacy Committee has put together the statement below. The CIS Advocacy Committee and CIS Executive Council stand. in strong support of the autonomy of the physician-patient relationship to allow individualized decisions to be made on the optimal delivery route of immunoglobulin therapy to patients with primary immunodeficiency (PI).

Letter

Advocacy Committee

The Advocacy Committee meets on an as-needed basis to develop the extent and the manner in which CIS pursues actions to influence government policy at the state and federal level.

Their activities over the past years include the following:

• Submitted a letter to Aetna Letter regarding the revision in the policy on Parenteral Immunoglobulins (PIP), which failed to adequately consider important aspects of the role of IG therapy in the care of primary immunodeficiency patients.
• Agreed to sign on to the 21^st Century Cures Act.
• Invited Linda Griffith, MD, NIAID, to speak on advocacy during the 2017 Annual Meeting.
• Wrote a paper on Genetics which was submitted to the Journal of Clinical Immunology. An early 2018 publish date is anticipated.
• Conducted a survey with the Immune Deficiency Foundation and currently exploring next steps.
• December 2017: Distributed a response to the CIS Membership regarding the Senate's Proposed Tax Bill.