05/26/2015
As a current or former patient of the Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center, I
am asking for your support for Senate Bill 418. This legislation requires
your healthcare insurer to pay for medications that your doctor prescribes
for your treatment even if FDA-approved for a different medical condition.
Connecicut has a similar law on the books, but it needs to be updated to
include evidence from peer reviewed medical literature to support a
beneficial effect. This is important because there are few drugs that are
specifically approved to treat symptoms of MS and, in some cases,
FDA-approved disease modifying drugs do not work and other treatments must
be explored.
See: http://cga.ct.gov/2015/FC/2015SB-00418-R000869-FC.htm
I cannot stress the importance of this legislation to individuals with
multiple sclerosis. Many of you have had the experience of being denied
drugs that your physician has prescribed because your insurance company
stated thatthey were not specifically approved by the FDA for multiple
sclerosis and so are 'not medically necessary.' While these decisions can be
appealed, the process is time consuming for your physician and there is no
guarantee that the appeal will be successful. Often the case is reviewed by
a physician who is not an MS specialist and often not a neurologist. This
strategy is employed by insurance companies in a misguided attempt to keep
their costs down, but neglect to take into account the benefits of effective
therapies that might better control or improve your symptoms from MS.
See our position paper on this topic:
http://www.mstreatmentcenters.org/SupportSB418.pdf
We need your help this week to get Senate Bill 418 passed by the Senate and
House. Please click on the link to find your representative to send an email
message or make a telephone call asking for a pledge of support:
http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/cgafindleg.asp
Feel free to use the following template, and, please include any examples of
being unfairly denied treatment for your MS:
Dear [insert the name of your Senator or House member],
I am writing to you as a person who suffers from a chronic and potentially
disabling illness called Multiple Sclerosis. I support Senate Bill 418
because it allows my doctor to lawfully prescribe medications that will best
treat my condition. I do not believe that it is right for my insurance
company to practice medicine by not letting my physician exercise his or her
best professional judgement.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Thank you once again for your support.
Sincerely,
Joseph B. Guarnaccia, MD
Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center,
Derby, CT 06418
Tel: 203-732-1290
Email: mstreatmentcenters@griffinhealth.org
AN ACT CONCERNING OFF-LABEL PRESCRIPTION DRUGS.
