Want step therapy reform? Please step forward!

On May 11, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing to consider several pieces of health care legislation, including the S. 1339 Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act. In response to advocacy from the AAN and our partner organizations, a bill to reform step therapy requirements, S. 652 Safe Step Act, was introduced as an amendment to S. 1339 by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and passed out of committee with near unanimous support.

Step therapy, or fail first, requirements are a utilization management tool that requires patients to use lower-cost medications before being able to access the drug that was prescribed. The Safe Step Act would ensure that employer health plans and pharmacy benefit managers provide expedient and medically reasonable step therapy exceptions process―allowing patients to access the care they need in a timely manner.

The AAN signed a letter of support for the inclusion of this legislation which was sent to committee members in advance of the hearing. We will continue to advocate for full passage of this bill in the Senate and the House this Congress. To help us with our advocacy efforts, we urge members to share their stories of dealing with step therapy requirements using our Action Center.