For nearly eight years, patient advocate groups have been battling insurers to limit the use of step therapy, a policy requiring patients to try one treatment before accessing a different one. Could 2022 be the year a bill finally becomes law?
Advocates saw hopeful signs Thursday, as lawmakers started moving a bill in informal sessions. But whether it becomes law remains an open question since it still faces some opposition.
Marc Hymovitz, director of government relations in Massachusetts for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said the bill is a compromise between the House and the Senate. He said patient groups and insurers have continued talking for years to try to get all interested parties on the same page. “It’s a good example of all the stakeholders continuing to talk and continuing to try to get to yes,” Hymovitz said. “It took awhile, probably longer than patient groups wanted, but that’s what happened.”
However, while the House and Senate may agree, not all stakeholders do. Lora Pellegrini, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, said she appreciates that the bill would not ban step therapy, as earlier versions would have. She said her tassociation agrees people should not be required to repeat a medication that is unsafe or ineffective if they change health plans. But she said the bill moving through the Legislature “goes beyond that and impacts the health plans’ ability to lower prescription drug costs and ensure patient safety.”
Step therapy, sometimes called “fail first” therapy, a a policy of insurers requiring a patient to try one drug – often a cheaper, older one – before switching to a different drug. Insurers say this limits costs and improves patient safety by not automatically approving access to the newest, most expensive drug.
But patient advocates say insurers should not stand in the way of a doctor’s clinical judgment, and the practice harms patients by requiring them to fail on treatments that are unlikely to work. Curbs on step therapy have been supported by the pharmaceutical industry, since step therapy limits access to expensive drugs.
Patient groups have been pushing for step therapy limits for years. In July 2020, CommonWealth reported that patient groups and insurers were nearing a compromise. The Senate voted that year for the first time on a bill limiting step therapy’s use. But the House never took it up. Separate bills passed both the House and Senate this session, but no agreement was reached between the two branches before formal sessions ended in July.
On Thursday, the State House News Service reported that Rep. John Lawn, House chair of the Health Care Financing Committee, introduced and got passed an amendment with a compromise on the final difference between the House and Senate, related to how long insurers have to respond to patient appeals. The House gave the insurer three business days, and one business day in case of emergency. The Senate gave the insurer 72 hours, or 24 hours in an emergency. The compromise was three business days normally, but 24 hours in emergencies.
Generally, the bill says, patients cannot be required to try a drug that is unlikely to succeed because of clinical characteristics of the patient or characteristics of the drug. It would eliminate step therapy when someone switches insurers if the patient already tried a drug under a prior insurer or if they are stable on a medication.
Stephen Acosta, a spokesperson for Health Care Financing Senate chair Cindy Friedman, said the bills that passed each chamber had “very minor differences,” and Friedman was glad to work with Lawn to reach a final agreement. He said Friedman “will be strongly pushing for the bill to pass during informal session.”
However, the down side of passing a bill during informal sessions is a single member’s opposition can derail the bill, as can opposition from Gov. Charlie Baker, since it takes a roll call vote to override a gubernatorial veto.
There is likely to be some lobbying against the bill. Insurers have raised concerns about language enabling members to obtain an exemption from step therapy if they tried and failed with a drug that is in the same pharmacologic class or acts in a similar way. Insurers say this runs counter to clinical guidelines. For example, Lipitor and Zocor work similarly to lower cholesterol but Lipitor is more potent, so failing with one drug does not mean a patient will fail with the other. Insurers also raise cost concerns in cases when a patient fails on a brand drug, then a generic is released, since the bill would forbid the insurer from requiring the patient to try the cheaper generic.
Baker has not taken a position. Baker spokesperson Terry MacCormack said, “The administration will carefully review any legislation that reaches the governor’s desk.”
SHIRA SCHOENBERG
NEW STORIES FROM COMMONWEALTH MAGAZINE
Final debate: The second and final debate in the gubernatorial race between Democrat Maura Healey and Republican Geoff Diehl offered up few surprises and focused primarily on soaring energy prices, abortion, and taxes.
– Diehl said the steep runup in electricity and home heating prices could have been avoided if Healey years ago had not led efforts to block the construction of new natural gas pipelines into the region. Healey defended her actions, and blamed the war in Ukraine for destabilizing world energy markets.
– Healey said her Republican opponent can’t be trusted to defend abortion rights because he opposes abortion, but Diehl said there is little he could do given the state Legislature’s control by Democrats. “I know it’s Halloween, stop scaring people about abortion,” he said.
– One of Healey’s main economic initiatives is her support for $3 billion in tax rebates coming in November and her support for a package of permanent tax cuts that is currently stalled in the Legislature. If tax cuts are such a high priority, Diehl asked, why is she backing Question 1 on the ballot, which would add a 4 percent surcharge on income over $1 million? Read more.
Trulieve statement on death: The multistate marijuana company Trulieve issued a statement correcting what it called inaccuracies circulating in news media related to the death of Lisa McMurrey after working a shift January 4 at the firm’s Holyoke cultivation facility.
– The company said McMurrey complained she was not feeling well and was told she could take the rest of the day off with pay. McMurrey remained at work, but when she began feeling worse company employees called 911 and began administering CPR. The company said air quality at the facility was in compliance with all regulations and McMurrey had access to an N-95 mask. McMurrey died at Bay State Hospital three days after collapsing at the cultivation facility. Read more.
OPINION
Citizenship fee too high: Mitra Chavarini of Project Citizenship says the $750 citizenship application fee is a barrier for many immigrants. Read more.
STORIES FROM ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Baker administration officials tell lawmakers new financial incentives for electric vehicles haven’t kicked in yet for two reasons. First, the point-of-sale rebates require computer work and second, funding for the rebates is contained in the stalled economic development bill. (WBUR)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Tensions over city council redistricting were on display at a South Boston community meeting on Wednesday, where residents voiced objections to a play that would split off some sections of the neighborhood into the adjacent council district. (Boston Globe)
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu calls on state officials to come up with plans to house some of those congregating at the drug-overrun area of Mass. and Cass in other communities. (Boston Globe)
Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra rejects a plan to locate a marijuana shop on a busy street corner in Florence, but pledges to work with the applicant to find a better location elsewhere. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
A new grant program seeks to ease the emergency room boarding crisis. (Salem News)
ELECTIONS
Question 4 in Massachusetts gets some support from New York, where law enforcement officials say allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses has significantly reduced the number of arrests for unlicensed driving. (GBH)
The New Bedford Light looks into Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson’s record on immigration issues, an issue that is at the center of his public profile – but one that critics say should fall outside the subjects of concern to a county sheriff.
In their only scheduled debate, Democratic attorney general nominee Andrea Campbell and Republican nominee Jay McMahon joust over policing, abortion, and other issues. (Boston Globe)
US Reps. Seth Moulton and Lori Trahan both face Republican challengers in the November election. (Salem News)
U.S. Rep Jim McGovern and his challenger Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette of Shrewsbury debate inflation, the US response to the conflict in Ukraine, and the January 6 committee. (Telegram & Gazette)
Three incumbent state representatives from the South Shore are facing general election challenges – Democrats Tackey Chan and James Murphy, and Republican David DeCoste. (Patriot Ledger)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Spiking oil prices will likely push more people to seek heating assistance this winter. (Gloucester Daily Times)
Northampton for the first time denies local approval for a proposed cannabis dispensary, after opposition from residents in the Florence neighborhood. (MassLive)
The state’s three casinos have seized $3.6 million from people’s winnings to pay unpaid child support and taxes. (MassLive)
Serial entrepreneur Paul English is launching a new app – Deets – that he says will “blow up the review ecosystem,”starting with restaurant reviews. (Boston Globe)
Elon Musk tells prospective investors he’ll cut nearly 75 percent of Twitter’s 7,500 employees if his deal to buy the company goes through. (Washington Post)
EDUCATION
Haverhill teachers reach an agreement ending a four-day strike and allowing school to open today. (WBUR) Globe columnist Scot Lehigh says the strike was a chance for Maura Healey to show some independence from the Mass. Teachers Association, which endorsed her – but she didn’t.
Cell biologist and Duke University provost Sally Kornbluth is named the new president of MIT. (Boston Globe)
New England Academy plans to open a new school for middle and high school students with social and emotional disabilities in Marshfield next fall. (Patriot Ledger)
Paraprofessionals in New Bedford say the school district is violating the rights of special education students by not providing adequate services because of a shortage of paraprofessionals. (Standard-Times)
Massachusetts plans to launch between four and six STEM Tech Career Academies, allowing students to earn both their high school diplomas and postsecondary credentials through free six-year programs at community colleges. (MassLive)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS\
The State Police swears in 378 new officers who just graduated from the Police Academy. (MassLive)
MEDIA
A new survey conducted by the Knight and Gallup foundations finds those willing to pay for news tend to make more than $150,000 a year. (Nieman Journalism Lab)
PASSINGS
Widely respected Fall River community activist and local historian Al Lima died at age 80. (Herald News)