Legislative Update - Dodged the bullet this time...and had some wins!

As you know, the Legislature finished up a few weeks ago, and the results were a bit surprising given the place we started in December.  Amazingly, after some creative accounting, almost all of our priority programs were saved! This is partly due to the improved economy, decreased caseloads, and accounting maneuvers (whatever that means).  

We also saw great success with the passage of the Health Exchange bill (HB 2319)!  This is one more step in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.  A very exciting development is the inclusion of a trigger that will allow the Insurance Commissioner’s office to address the specialty tier issue if it causes adverse selection in the exchanges. Listing critical drugs in the “specialty” tier frequently puts these necessary medications out of reach of many people living with MS. If you have a story about your experience with “specialty” tiers, please contact the chapter to share your story so that we can show our representatives that their constituents are suffering due to this unfair practice.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/was/advocacy/tell-us-your-story/index.aspx

The Greater NW Chapter has been included in a task force contributing to establishing the minimum standards for the state Health Exchange network. This is a significant place at the table for the MS Community, as we are communicating the needs of the chronic disease community and establishing a consumer centric Health Exchange that will serve the needs of the consumers who truly need this service.

Over the last several months, we have joined forces with coalitions, such as Healthy Washington and the Long Term Care group/Aging Caucus, to help get our message across to our legislature. The passage of the Health Exchange bill proves we are definitely more effective when we join forces with other groups.  

We are thankful that our programs were “saved”, but after all of the cuts over the last several sessions, there isn’t much left to save. Now we need to focus on improving our safety net programs so that the needs of our community are served. Keep up the pressure on your state Legislators (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx ) to protect and improve Basic Health, Disability Lifeline, and Medicaid so that that people living with MS will have access to the services so desperately needed.

 It’s Time for Action! Washington

Cheers! – Holly Hawker

Chair, Activism Committee
Greater NW Chapter, National MS Society

What's the National MS Society doing about the cost of MS drugs?

Great question. I'm glad I asked that. A recent article in the New York Times gives a great overview of the challenge that we face in asking state legislators to put a cap on the price of MS drugs. In Washington, we supported legislation (HB 1876 and HB 2435/SB 6241) to limit the cost of drugs. Unfortunately, the bills did not pass, though we heard from several legislators that this is an issue they'd like to help us with. The American Cancer Society also pushed hard for this legislation and in tandem with other chronic disease organizations, we were able to set up a mechanism to address the issue in the future if it causes adverse selection (the spiraling of costs that could occur when people with high health care costs are separated into their own health plans).

In Alaska, we've been making great progress in pushing HB 218, legislation that would increase transparency around the use of specialty tiers. The bill is currently in the Senate Rules Committee and we are hoping it will pass before the session adjourns on Sunday.

We are also looking at this issue in Montana - the first step is documenting the extent to which people with MS are actually affected by this issue. Our Montana Government Relations Committee is very interested in learning more about this issue, so let us know if you have high drug costs.

Advocacy: speaking out on behalf of an individual or community

Advocacy takes place in many shapes, forms, and colors. Sometimes it's sticking up for yourself when your insurance company tries to deny your claim or your family members disagree with your decisions about how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you advocate for yourself, sometimes you advocate for others.

When you advocate for yourself and others at the same time, it's an especially powerful statement. Check out this recent letter to the editor about someone who is sticking up for herself and the MS community in voicing her concerns about recent proposals to cut Disability Lifeline - an important health care program for people living with MS.

How do you advocate? If you are looking for a way to advocate, check out this Action Alert that makes it easy to share your voice with elected officials.