Put cancer patients before insurance company profits
The 110,000 New Yorkers who will be diagnosed with cancer this year deserve access to the life-saving medicine they need. But "step therapy" policies used by insurance companies require patients to try less expensive, potentially less effective drugs before they can get coverage for the prescriptions their physicians recommend. Prioritizing insurance company profits over patients' health is wrong.
Fortunately for cancer patients, the New York State Legislature has unanimously passed a bill to reform step therapy practices. Now we just need the Governor to sign it into law. Doctors, not insurance companies, should have the final say in the treatment plans of their patients. But we need your help. When the step therapy reform bill lands on Governor Cuomo's desk, let him know that New Yorkers stand with patients.
Prioritize the health and safety of patients in New York. Tell Governor Cuomo to sign step therapy reform into law.
Dear Governor Cuomo,
I am writing on behalf of the 110,000 New Yorkers who will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Undoubtedly, New York has emerged as a national leader in the fight against breast cancer thanks to your efforts. There is another step New York can take to help cancer patients: limiting step therapy policies.
Patients deserve access to the life-saving medicine they need. But "step therapy" policies used by insurance companies require patients to try less expensive, potentially less effective drugs before they can get coverage for the prescriptions their physicians recommend. Prioritizing insurance company profits over patients' health is wrong.
The New York State Legislature has taken an important step and unanimously passed A.2834C, a bill to reform step therapy practices. This legislation ensures that evidence-based medical guidance - not the cost of a drug - determines the prescriptions patients receive coverage for. The bill also requires that physicians have the option to request an override of an insurance company's step therapy requirement to help their patients get the expedited care they need.
[Your comment here]
When this bill comes across your desk, I urge you to sign it into law.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
