A few weeks ago I posted this on the practice of Step Therapy. It’s a lousy system that places insurance companies in the role of doctors and could potentially jeopardize patient health. NAMI-NY, one of the primary political advocacy groups in New York for mental health issues, is looking for help to identify cases where step therapy has had an adverse effect on patients:
NAMI-NYS is engaged in a broad advocacy coalition working to regulate the practice of Step Therapy. Step Therapy is when an insurance carrier will not approve to pay for a medication prescribed by a doctor, choosing to only pay for a less expensive option, forcing the patient to demonstrate that this medication failed them before allowing them to step-up to the more appropriate originally prescribed option.
Regulating this has become a major advocacy focus for NAMI-NYS as forcing people living with a mental illness to fail first is a dangerous practice that could have disastrous results. The people leading the media arm of this coalition have found sympathetic media outlets in Long Island who want to report this story. They just need people to tell their story of how they have had to endure this practice. If you or any of your family members have had this experience and are willing to tell your story, please email Matthew@naminys.org and we can connect them to the right people.
If you’re reading this and have had experience with step therapy, please consider responding to NAMI.
Paul's letters... 