CALL TO ACTION- outreach needed by 5/11/23!!
Click the links below to create a pre-filled email to the offices of Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand asking them to co-sponsor S. 1375 to ensure that all copays count. All you need to do is add your full name, city, and state at the bottom of the email and then hit SEND!
Click here to email Senator Schumer’s office
Click here to email Senator Gillibrand’s office
If you would like, you can add you connection to the bleeding disorders community at the beginning of the email (click here to see an example). If the links above do not work for you, please scroll to the bottom of the page for additional info.
While Governor Hochul signed the NY accumulator bill last December, that legislation only protects patients and families on NY ACA Marketplace plans. We must take action now to protect NYers on employer-provided insurance! We are calling on our US Senators to take action by co-sponsoring S. 1375, the Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act. This federal legislation, if passed, would ensure that all copays count for all patients across the country, regardless of the type of health insurance they have!
Sponsored by Senators Kaine, Marshall, Markey, and Ernst, S. 1375 (identical to its House counterpart, H.R. 830) is bipartisan legislation that would prohibit copay accumulator adjusters. The bill would require health plans to count copay assistance towards a beneficiary’s deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. It would also close the so-called “non-essential health benefits loophole” that health plans and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) currently exploit to justify the imposition of copay maximizers. These reforms will help people with bleeding disorders and other costly health conditions to afford their medications and stay on their treatment regimens.
If the links above did not work for you, here are the email addresses and suggested subject line and email text that you can copy and paste:
Senator Schumer’s office email:
matthew_fuentes@schumer.senate.gov
Senator Gillibrand’s office email:
jasmin_palomares@gillibrand.senate.gov
Suggested subject line:
S. 1375 Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act
Suggested email (don’t forget to add you name, city, and state at the end):
I am writing on behalf of people with bleeding disorders in New York State and the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) to ask the Senator to co-sponsor S. 1375, the Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act.
This legislation requires health plans to count the value of drug copay assistance toward patients' cost-sharing requirements. The legislation also closes a loophole that some employer-provided health plans exploit in order to limit coverage for specialty drugs. These protections would help people with bleeding disorders and other serious health conditions who face unaffordable cost-sharing for their life-saving medications.
In early March, you met with advocates as part of NHF's Washington Days about H.R. 830, and since then Senators Kaine and Marshall have introduced the Senate companion bill S. 1375 with the goal of having it included in the upcoming HELP Committee mark-up on PBMs.
Governor Hochul signed similar legislation in December to help protect patients and families across NYS, but that legislation only applies to ACA plans, leaving the roughly 50% of New Yorkers with employer-provided health insurance vulnerable to these harmful practices. I'm asking the Senator to consider co-sponsoring this crucial legislation to ensure that patient assistance can actually assist patients, both here in NY and across the country.
Thank you so much for your consideration.