Thanksgiving is just around the corner - time for pumpkin pie, turkey, and busting out your cozy sweaters and socks! But most importantly, this marks a season of thanks.

Here at the CSD, we're grateful for our members' passion and dedication to the skin disease community.

The dedication, vulnerability and strength, and resourcefulness of our members is something we're grateful for every day of the year. Take a peek at what you'll find in this month's newsletter:



• CSD virtual Winter Meeting December 10 at 2:00PM ET
• Mark your calendars for the CSD 2025 Hill Day from May 18 - 20!
• Legislative and Policy Updates
• Patient Group Learning and Engagement Opportunities
• Skin in the News

CSD Winter Meeting

We look forward to reconnecting at our virtual Winter Meeting taking place December 10 from 2:00PM - 3:00PM ET, at which time we will be sharing results from the Advocacy Survey along with where we will be directing our policy efforts in 2025. Additionally, there will be some exciting sneak peeks of what the CSD will be offering members in the coming year. A calendar invite will be sent out to members along with an agenda early next week, so be on the lookout!

CSD 2025 Hill Day

Mark your calendar for the upcoming CSD Hill Day from May 18 - 20, 2025! We're excited to head to Washington, D.C. to advocate on behalf of the 84 million Americans with a skin disease. In addition to meeting with legislators to discuss the CSD's legislative and policy priorities, we'll have prominent speakers and advocacy training. Please be on the lookout in the coming months for more information on how to apply, and you can read through the CSD's Hill Day 2024 Report here.

CSD at the BIO Patient & Health Advocacy Summit, the Autoimmune Community Summit, and the PeDRA Conference!

On October 23-24, over 300 patient advocates and key stakeholders in regulatory and industry leaders arenas from across the nation convened in Washington, D.C., for the BIO Patient and Health Advocacy Summit (PHAS). This event provided a crucial platform for advocates to share their personal journeys, forge meaningful connections with fellow advocates and influential stakeholders, and tackle urgent issues that patients face today. Discussions centered around overcoming barriers to access, developing effective communication strategies with the FDA, and exploring the innovative role of AI in drug development. The spirit of collaboration and high regard toward patient advocacy was truly inspiring and such an encouragement to keep up the great work we are doing for the dermatology patient community.

Coalition Letters of Support

The CSD recently signed onto two coalition letters of support:

1. In concert with the Safe Step Act Coalition, the CSD signed onto a letter asking Congress to include the Safe Step Act, H.R. 2630/ S. 632, in any end-of-year legislative package or in any pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM) reform legislation. Passage of this bill is one of the CSD's top legislative priorities.
2. As part of the All Copays Count Coalition, the CSD signed onto a comment letter urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to make rule-making changes that would protect patients from rising out-of-pocket costs, ultimately increasing access to and affordability of marketplace plans.

Post-Election Update

The results of the election are in, and Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, 2025. The CSD is eager to engage with the incoming Trump Administration and Members of the 119th Congress in an effort to spread awareness of skin diseases and to advocate for quality health care and treatment.

There is much work to be done before the end of the 118th Congress! Congress returned to D.C. on November 12 and now faces a looming government funding deadline. Earlier this fall, Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR), or funding bill, that expires on December 20. The CSD has been busy urging Congress to pass pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM) reform legislation and the Safe Step Act before the end of the year.

Would you be willing to share resources to help others in the CSD? Many of our

members have mentioned how beneficial it would be to have a repository of helpful guides they

could glean from to inform their own work and minimize the need to start from scratch, which

would save tons of precious time and elevate our whole community.

If you have templates or examples of organizational policies, fundraising strategies, patient

conference planning, email drip campaigns, and the like, please share them! You can easily

upload those documents here.

Webinars and Other Engagement Opportunities

Medicare Enrollment Resources

The Annual Open Enrollment for Medicare began on October 15 and ends on December 7, 2024 for coverage beginning January 1, 2025.

The CSD, in partnership with the Medicare Access for Patients Rx (MAPRx) Coalition, created a Medicare Part D prescription drug open enrollment guide and patient guide for our members, as well as an infographic.

Additional resources include:

• Alliance for Patient Access Webinar: Understanding Medicare Part D Changes
• The Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation (CLF) has compiled an incredible list of resources regarding Medicare enrollment and the changes that have been made to Medicare for 2025 coverage, specifically to the Part D prescription drug program. Please visit their website for more information.
• Alliance for Aging Research brief video: How Medicare Drug Coverage Changes Will Impact You in 2025

Patient Inclusion Council Survey



The Patient Inclusion Council has released a survey aimed at collecting detailed information to better identify and address patient issues with affording and accessing their medication. The results of the study will be shared with Prescription Drug Affordability Boards (PDABs), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and legislators in an effort to better inform drug affordability reviews and legislative efforts connected to them. By understanding patient issues and concerns, they hope to better create health policies that address these needs and foster better health for patients. Please see the survey here.

The Coalition of Skin Diseases gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our

Healthcare Industry Partners.