RE: Support for S. 464, the Safe Step Act
Dear Senators Murkowski, Hassan, Cassidy and Rosen:
As patient and physician advocates, the Alliance of Specialty Medicine (Alliance) writes in support of your
legislation, S. 464, the Safe Step Act, which would provide patients and providers with a clear and
transparent appeals process when subject to step therapy protocols instituted by insurers.
As you know, a medication step-therapy protocol establishes a specific sequence in which prescription
drugs are covered by a group health plan or a health insurance issuer. Step-therapy protocols may require
patients to try and fail an insurer-preferred medication before being covered by the physician-prescribed
medication. Many insurers have instituted this practice to help control the costs of expensive medications.
However, while this practice may initially reduce insurer costs, it can have devastating health
consequences for patients and ultimately lead to more expensive health care costs in the long run.
Patients who are denied first coverage of medications recommended by their physicians can end up with
poor health outcomes due to adverse health events which can lead to costly hospitalizations. In the era
of personalized medicine, patients with chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid
arthritis, cancer, psoriasis, or age-related macular degeneration may respond differently to various
medications used to treat these diseases.
Read full letter here
