Posted: February 10, 2017
It was another active week for step therapy legislation across the country; here are some highlights from Ohio and Iowa.
Health advocates met with Ohio lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss the need for step therapy reform as part of Ohio’s Step Therapy Advocacy Day. Amidst stories emphasizing the harms caused by step therapy, Representative Nickie Antonio along with Senators Peggy Lehner and Charleta Tavares expressed their strong support for legislation to lower step therapy barriers in Ohio. Senators Lehner and Tavares further announced their intention to soon re-introduce a step therapy bill (SB 243) from last session. Representative Terry Johnson is also expected to lead the re-introduction of companion legislation (HB 443) in the Ohio House.
On the heel of HSB 26 passing unanimously out of the House Human Resources committee in Iowa, a companion bill (SSB 1072) was introduced by Senator Mark Segebart in the Iowa Senate on Wednesday. A subcommittee hearing on the bill is expected to occur within the next few weeks; should the bill pass out of subcommittee, it will then be heard by the full Senate Human Resources committee. CSRO will continue to support both bills as they make their way through the Iowa legislature.
