We believe policymakers should focus on those issues that directly impact patients, such as PBM regulation and reform, standard plan designs with reasonable deductibles and nominal copays, and ensuring copay assistance counts. For example, Rhode Island still allows issuers to implement harmful copay accumulator adjustment policies that permit double-dipping by payers to take copay assistance without crediting beneficiary out-of-pocket costs.
Support letter to CA State Assembly Appropriations Committee for AB 2180 on cost-sharing
HIV+Hep strongly supports AB 2180. It simply requires that the copay assistance which beneficiaries receive counts towards their out-of-pocket obligations. By passing this law, California will join 20 other states (Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Virginia), Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia in protecting consumers by assuring their copay assistance will count towards cost-sharing obligations.
House testimony on FY25 appropriations for HIV and hepatitis programs
Our nation can eliminate both HIV and viral hepatitis, but without an infusion of new resources to accelerate our efforts, we will continue to fall short of these ambitious goals. While we realize strict spending caps are in place, increased investment – and certainly not cuts – in surveillance, education, prevention, and care and treatment will lead to further progress in reducing HIV and viral hepatitis, which include taking a syndemic approach to achieve maximum impact. The programs and funding increases detailed below are pivotal to our nation’s ability to end both these potentially deadly infectious diseases.
Comments to MD Prescription Drug Affordability Stakeholder Council on reviewing prescription drugs
While we support the Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) goal of addressing affordability of treatments, we believe that the current approach of the Board to set upper payment limits (UPLs) on the proposed drugs for review will neither benefit patient health outcomes nor result in reduced out-of-pocket costs for patients.
Support for Rhode Island’s H 8041 “An Act Relating to Insurance—Prescription Drug Benefits”
We voice our strong support for Rhode Island’s H 8041 (“An Act Relating to Insurance—Prescription Drug Benefits”) which stipulates that, when calculating an enrollee’s overall contribution to any out-of-pocket maximum or any cost-sharing requirement under a health plan, an insurer or pharmacy benefit manager shall include any amounts paid by the enrollee or paid on behalf of the enrollee by another person. We thank you for considering this legislation and are pleased to offer our support.