We can beat step therapy with your help!
Next month the Minnesota legislative session starts. Minnesotan lawmakers will be introducing legislation that will curb step therapy protocols. Under step therapy, a patient must fail first on one or more medicines chosen by their insurer before coverage is granted for the drug prescribed by that patient’s health care provider. In the psoriatic disease drug classes, step therapy is used approximately 50 percent of the time.
This is unacceptable.
At the National Psoriasis Foundation, we are fighting to improve your access to care by taking a stand against step therapy, and we need your help!
That is why we are working on legislation that ensures that step therapy protocols are safe for patients. NPF and other organizations have already passed successful step therapy legislation in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, Texas and West Virginia. Now we are working to pass a step therapy bill in Minnesota.
The bill being introduced in Minnesota provides five instances where a patient can request an override. If a patient is granted the override, they will have a response within 72 hours and if it is an emergency they will have a response within 24 hours.
Below are the five circumstances in which a patient could request an override:
- The required prescription drug is contraindicated or will likely cause an adverse reaction by or physical or mental harm to the patient.
- The required prescription drug is expected to be ineffective based on the known clinical characteristics of the patient and the known characteristics of the prescription drug regimen.
- The patient has tried the required prescription drug while under their current or a previous health insurance or health benefit plan, or another prescription drug in the same pharmacologic class or with the same mechanism of action and such prescription drug was discontinued due to lack of efficacy or effectiveness, diminished effect or an adverse event.
- The required prescription drug is not in the best interest of the patient, based on medical necessity.
- The patient is stable on a prescription drug selected by their health care provider for the medical condition under consideration while on a current or previous health insurance or health benefit plan.
Our secret weapon: you
Do you want to help us secure these overrides for our patient community? If so, you can support this legislative effort by educating your lawmakers on this issue. One of the most valuable tools for passing this important piece of legislation is you, the patient.
We want to ensure Minnesota lawmakers have the opportunity to hear directly from patients and providers about the importance of properly treating their psoriatic disease. This is your opportunity to tell lawmakers how step therapy has personally impacted your health. And if you are a provider, this is the perfect time to share how it affects your ability to treat patients.
Join us on March 13 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul
Share your story at the Minnesota Fail First Lobby Day. Be your own best advocate! We are inviting advocates, patients, and provides to join us on March 13 to lobby their lawmakers at the Minnesota State Capitol. We are offering a limited amount of travel scholarships. If you are interested in educating Minnesota lawmakers on your experience with step therapy protocols, please contact our state government affairs manager, MaryAnn McCabe, at mmccabe@psoriasis.org.
