From the pages of the Roanoke Times …
Med Beat: Drug makers' coupons to count toward deductibles
Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill that will require insurers to count toward deductibles and co-pays any payments made on behalf of a patient, including assistance by pharmaceutical makers.
The practice known as copay accumulator adjustments excluded from patients’ deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket costs the coupons and assistance programs that lower the price of medication.
Fair Health Care VA Coalition lauded passage of the bill.
“As out-of-pocket costs continue to rise, Virginia patients already face enough barriers to accessing the health care coverage that they need. Copay assistance programs are a critical resource, particularly for patients whose health care costs could bankrupt their families or force them to live without the care they need,” Dr. Bruce A. Silverman, a Richmond nephrologist and advocate for the collation, said in a news release. “Patients should not be denied one of the key benefits of copay assistance programs, particularly since insurers are already getting the value of negotiated drug price discounts while withholding these benefits from patients.”
When the change goes into effect July 1, all payments made by patients or on their behalf will count toward maximum out-of-patient payments and deductibles.
Med Beat: Drug makers' coupons to count toward deductibles
Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill that will require insurers to count toward deductibles and co-pays any payments made on behalf of a patient, including assistance by pharmaceutical makers.
The practice known as copay accumulator adjustments excluded from patients’ deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket costs the coupons and assistance programs that lower the price of medication.
Fair Health Care VA Coalition lauded passage of the bill.
“As out-of-pocket costs continue to rise, Virginia patients already face enough barriers to accessing the health care coverage that they need. Copay assistance programs are a critical resource, particularly for patients whose health care costs could bankrupt their families or force them to live without the care they need,” Dr. Bruce A. Silverman, a Richmond nephrologist and advocate for the collation, said in a news release. “Patients should not be denied one of the key benefits of copay assistance programs, particularly since insurers are already getting the value of negotiated drug price discounts while withholding these benefits from patients.”
When the change goes into effect July 1, all payments made by patients or on their behalf will count toward maximum out-of-patient payments and deductibles.
