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National Migraine & Headache Awareness Month (MHAM) this June is rapidly approaching! U.S. Pain is offering three fun, easy ways to get involved and help create awareness:

  1. Requesting a proclamation from your town or state
  2. Requesting a landmark or building in your town or state be lit up in purple
  3. Host a screening of “Out of My Head,” a documentary about headache and migraine disease.

To learn more about all three of these opportunities, check out last month’s news article. Keep in mind that the time to take action is now, as most of these activities require some advance planning.

In addition to the above, Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an independent research organization that evaluates the clinical and economic value of treatments and tests, is assessing the new class of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitor medicines for migraines. Insurance companies will use ICER’s final report to determine if they will cover these medicines, how much the coinsurance will be, and what types of prior authorization or step therapy will be required.

“ICER does not have a migraine patient or a headache specialist on the voting panel that will be making their final decision, so they truly do not have a personal or specialist understanding of migraine disease,” says Katie Golden, U.S. Pain’s migraine advocacy liaison. “This is why it is vital that ICER hears from migraine patients!”

Almost 200 migraine patients shared their stories with ICER during the first public comment period in November 2017. These submissions have helped to inform the process thus far, but if you want your story to be seen by the voting panel, you must submit it again.

Check out the Updated Patient Guide, which provides all the information you need to know on what to cover and how to submit your migraine story. The deadline for submissions is May 8, 2018. If you have any questions, email [email protected].