We Need Your Help to Get the Protection We Need

We Need Your Help to Get the Protection We Need

We need your help to get the protection we need

in Pennsylvania!

Please send an email, letter or call the following Senators in Pennsylvania right away. Some wording below is provided to include in your communication. Add your personal story to your communication.

PA Senate Banking and Insurance Committee

Majority Members:

Senator Don White, Majority Chair
Senate Box 203041
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3041
Room: 286 Capitol Building
(717) 787-8724
FAX: (717) 772-1589

Senator John Eichelberger, Jr.
Senate Box 203030
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3030
Room: 169 Main Capitol
(717) 787-5490
FAX: (717) 783-5192

Senator Joseph ScarnatiIII
Senate Box 203025
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3025
Room: 292 Main Capitol
(717) 787-7084
FAX: (717) 772-2755

Senator Patrick Browne
Senate Box 203016
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3016
Room: 281 Main Capitol
(717) 787-1349
FAX: (717) 772-3458

Senator Thomas McGarrigle
Senate Box 203026
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3026
Room: 185 Main Capitol
(717) 787-1350
FAX: (717) 787-0196

Senator Patricia Vance
Senate Box 203031
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3031
Room: 173 Main Capitol
(717) 787-8524
FAX: (717) 772-0576

Senator Elder Vogel, Jr.
Senate Box 203047
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3047
Room: 362 Capitol Building
(717) 787-3076
FAX: (717) 772-2756

Senator Kim Ward
Senate Box 203039
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3039
Room: 168 Main Capitol
(717) 787-6063
FAX: (717) 772-0580

Senator Gene Yaw
Senate Box 203023
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3023
Room: 362 Main Capitol
(717) 787-3280
FAX: (717) 772-0575

PA Senate Banking and Insurance Committee

Minority Members:

Senator Sean Wiley, Minority Chair
Senate Box 203049
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3049
Room: 535 Main Capitol
(717) 787-8927
FAX: (717) 772-1588

Senator James Brewster
Senate Box 203045
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3045
Room: 458 Main Capitol
(717) 787-5580
FAX: (717) 772-3588

Senator Lawrence Farnese Jr.
Senate Box 203001
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3001
Room: 543 Main Capitol
(717) 787-5662
FAX: (717) 787-4531

Senator Christine Tartaglione
Senate Box 203002
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3002
Room: 458 Main Capitol
(717) 787-1141
FAX: (717) 787-7439

SAMPLE LETTER BELOW

Dear Senator ______,

As a (patient, parent, nurse, healthcare provider, etc.) I am writing to ask for your help.

Write a paragraph about your experience with hemophilia. Write about the cost of hemophilia factor concentrates and how they are essential to control bleeding in patients with hemophilia. Factor concentrates are considered specialty drugs" (and it is important to state this).

Specialty drugs are very costly, life-sustaining medicines needed to manage complex health conditions, like hemophilia. Pennsylvania health insurers discriminate against people who need specialty medicines by placing these drugs on specialty tiers, requiring patients to pay a percentage of the drug's cost (co-insurance) rather than a fixed dollar amount (co-payment) This cost-sharing can be as much as 25%-50% for each prescription. For Pennsylvanians with hemophilia and some other chronic conditions, this has had a serious impact on access to the medicines they need to sustain their life, requiring patients to pay, in some cases, thousands of dollars each month for their specialty drug.

In 2014, the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) completed a study of "Prescription Drug Specialty Tiers in Pennsylvania" to determine their impact on access and patient care. The study found that specialty tier drug pricing and unreasonable cost sharing IS a problem for some people in Pennsylvania, andthe LBFC recommended that "...Pennsylvania should consider per prescription out-of pocket cost-sharing limits for certain life sustaining specialty drugs... (p. S-11, LBFC Study)."

On May 28, 2015, Senator Bob Mensch introduced SB 841 which would place reasonable patient cost-sharing caps on specialty medicines for people in Pennsylvania. SB 841 is currently in the Banking and Insurance Committee and has not been considered.

More than 25 other states have introduced or passed similar legislation helping patients who need specialty drugs maintain access to the medicines they need. Where caps have been enacted, insurers have found ways to re-capture those costs without discriminating against those who need the most expensive medicines.

We understand that there is currently a bill in the Banking and Insurance Committee (SB 893) dealing with pharmaceutical transparency and how prices are established for these expensive medicines. Although these are important issues,patients should not be caught in the middle between insurers and pharmaceutical companies. While the legislature is looking for ways to reduce the cost of expensive medicines and understand how drug prices are set, patients continue to need their medicines and must have unimpeded access to them. Unreasonable cost-sharing is a barrier to patient access to these essential medicines.

I am asking you to urge Senator White to consider SB 841 in the Banking and Insurance Comitteeright away.

Cost-sharing cap legislation has been enacted in several states and is protecting patients from unreasonable cost-sharing. Pennsylvania needs to implement the recommendation made by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. We need your help.

Sincerely,

Your name

Your full address

Your phone

Your email