Letter to State Senator Elaine Bowers re: Step Therapy Reform

I am writing today to ask you to contact Senate Health Committee Chair Senator Sullentrop and request that the committee hold hearings on SB 93. This is the third year that MS Activists have advocated for common sense reforms in step therapy and the we respectfully request that the Health Committee Chairs allow the bill to have a hearing. 

SB 93 provides transparency, timeliness and uniformity in the practice of step therapy/first fail drug protocols in state regulated insurance plans and brings these plans in line with existing KanCare patient protections. 

Step therapy/first fail practices may require a patient to try a lower-cost drug or service for a certain period of time, before they will provide coverage for a more expensive option. Step therapy requirements may require patients to not only fail one treatment, but several. The time delay before a patient can access their preferred treatment may be lengthy, a delay which can have a negative effect on the health of patients with diseases such as multiple sclerosis. 

As a constituent and person diagnosed as having MS, I know MS affects each patient differently; considering drug adherence, symptom management and determining the best disease modifying therapies are decisions best left to healthcare providers and the patient. My healthcare should not be a business decision made by an insurer! The decisions should rest between me and my chosen healthcare providers.