RE: Support for S. 2546, the “Safe Step Act”
Dear Senators Murkowski and Jones:
As the Alliance of Specialty Medicine (Alliance), our mission is to advocate for sound federal health care
policy that fosters patient access to the highest quality specialty care. As patient and physician advocates,
the Alliance writes in support of your legislation, S. 2546, 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
