Day 1: Tuesday, March 17th, 2026Tuesday, 17 March 2026 - ET (Eastern Time, GMT-05:00)

Join Jimmy Choi, Parkinson’s advocate, American Ninja Warrior and global inspiration, as he shares his extraordinary journey of resilience and advocacy. Diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s at 27, Jimmy has defied expectations, completing marathons, breaking records and inspiring millions worldwide. In this keynote, explore the critical themes of patient affordability and access, offering a unique perspective on the challenges faced by patients navigating rare diseases and chronic conditions. Through his personal story, Jimmy highlights the importance of empowering patients, fostering community support and driving innovation in patient support programs.

• Embrace possibility in the face of life-altering diagnoses

• Champion access, affordability and systemic change

• Build solutions through partnerships in healthcare

• Redefine what’s possible for patients and caregivers

What do thousands of Americans living with chronic illness have to say about affordability and access in our healthcare system? This session presents findings from two comprehensive studies on the lived experience of patients on Medicare.  

The first study, led by the PAN Foundation and conducted by  IQVIA, analyzes national claims data to understand the real-world impact of Medicare Part D reforms—including affordability shifts, uptake of benefits, and potential unintended consequences such as rising out-of-pocket costs.  The second, a Patient Advocate Foundation and PAN Foundation survey of non-LIS Medicare beneficiaries, provides direct insights into how fixed incomes, rising costs, and cost-related medication non-adherence continue to threaten access to care and disrupt treatment.  Together, the data paints a sobering but essential picture: policy reforms have helped, but affordability challenges remain urgent and widespread. Attendees will leave with an evidence-based understanding of the financial burdens that patients with chronic illnesses face and why the work to improve access is far from finished.

The chaos of the healthcare landscape is driving the need to prepare for a future marked by greater access challenges, exacerbated affordability concerns, and an overwhelming availability of technological solutions.  In this session, we will tackle the impact of the trends below on your patient populations and the delivery of patient support.

• Gauging the impact of landmark policy changes (One Big Beautiful Bill, ACA enhanced subsidies, etc.) on patient access to affordable healthcare and medications

• Assessing how the national AI framework will shape utilization of digital and AI solutions  

• Deciphering how payer policies and policy decisions will introduce new pain points within the patient experience

• Building a strategic framework to best future-proof your patient support program

Whether we’re ready or not, the challenging landscape continues to radically shift.  Become better prepared to support your patients in 2026 and beyond.

In this exclusive roundtable, industry leaders will dive deep into how patient access needs are being assessed and the critical role affordability plays in shaping healthcare decisions. With a focus on real-world strategies and emerging trends, explore how data-driven insights are informing policy, operational changes and innovative approaches to patient support.

• Understand how federal policy changes—both legislative and regulatory—will continue to shape the healthcare landscape, focusing on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Inflation Reduction Act, Most Favored Nation, PBM reform and more

• Gain insight into how these policy changes will affect patient access and your patient support programs

• Review a roadmap for how your patient support program should plan for these major changes and incorporate these trends in your strategic planning

This session addresses the unique challenges of data scarcity in rare diseases and provides strategies for maximizing available information and best practices in data acquisition and utilization.

• Explore innovative data sets and partnerships that can help identify and understand rare disease patients

• Learn techniques for processing and linking disparate data sources in a commercial environment

• Understand the legal and ethical considerations around de-identified versus non-de-identified patient data

• Discover how to leverage data for patient identification, market sizing and commercial strategy development

This case study will showcase a multistakeholder collaboration to capture and understand disease impact on people’s lives. It demonstrates a multifaceted approach to disseminate learnings and helping shape more effective communication frameworks between physicians and patients. Learn how targeted research can bridge communication gaps and create lasting improvements in patient care.

This session explores strategic approaches for engaging payers and health technology assessment bodies early in the rare disease development process. Learn how to build compelling value narratives, generate appropriate evidence and establish productive dialogues that pave the way for successful market access in challenging rare disease environments.

• Master techniques for initiating payer conversations during early clinical development that shape favorable assessment frameworks

• Discover how to design evidence generation plans that satisfy both regulatory requirements and payer value thresholds specific to rare diseases

• Learn strategies for leveraging patient-reported outcomes and real-world evidence to strengthen economic arguments in ultra-rare conditions

This session addresses the critical need for integrated approaches across stakeholder groups in rare disease. Learn strategies for fostering collaboration that drive results.

• Discover frameworks for closer integration among patients, medical specialists and regulators

• Learn approaches for developing new endpoints and tools through collaborative efforts

• Explore communication strategies that bridge gaps between patients, physicians, and manufacturers

• Understand how to navigate compliance considerations while building effective relationship

During this session, take a deep dive into the critical pain points that patients face during their treatment journey. Combine storytelling and science to enhance collaboration, improve adherence and deliver patient-centered innovation

• Analyze real time patient data to understand how manufacturers can identify and address key challenges across the treatment continuum

• Discover practical frameworks for integrating patient-reported experiences into your commercial strategy