NEHA focuses on advocacy issues in the six New England States. The following is a listing of major initiatives, events, and issues in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

 

 

Multiple States

At issue in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont is legislation to preclude the creation of specialty tiers in private insurers’ prescription drug formularies (see table below). This legislation will prevent members of the bleeding disorders communities from potentially paying 20% to 33%+ of the annual cost of their medication out of their own pockets. For a person with hemophilia without inhibitors, for example, the patient out-of-pocket cost of medication could range between $80,000 and $120,000 per year should the patient have to pay specialty tier co-insurance rates. The table below provides links to the specialty tier legislation in New England states. To protect its members from specialty tiers and other legislation that might increase the cost of prescription drugs, NEHA initiated the New England Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs. You can learn more about the threat of specialty tiers and what NEHA and others are doing to blocking specialty tiers in the March edition of NEHA's Advocacy in Action newsletter.

 

State	Bill Number & Status	Bill Title	Text of Legislation	Public Hearing Date	Public Hearing Testimony
Connecticut	Raised Bill 1084	An Act Concerning Out-of-Pocket Expenses for Non-preferred Brand Name Drugs	Bill 1084 Text	March 1, 2011	Testimony on Bill 1084
Massachusetts	S 455	N/A	S 455 Text	TBA	N/A
Rhode Island	H 5568	An Act Relating to Insurance	H 5568 Text	March 22, 2011	N/A
Vermont	HB202 & SB57	Amendment to An Act Relating to a Single-Payer and Unified Health System	Amendment Text for HB.202	April 7, 2011 6-8 PM State House, Room 11	N/A

 

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Connecticut

 

New England Connect: Connecticut

NEHA's members in Connecticut have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their state lawmakers in their hometown or at the Connecticut State House. Meetings will allow NEHA members to education lawmakers on the issues facing the bleeding disorders community. If you would like to participate, please contact Wendy Owens, NEHA's Advocacy Coordinator via email or at 781-326-7645.

 

Legislative Issues

Please contact your Connecticut state lawmakers and ask them to support the bill to preclude the implementation of specialty drug tiers, "An Act Concerning Out-of-Pocket Expenses for Non-preferred Brand Name Drugs" (Raised Bill 1084). To learn more about specialty drug tiers and the problems associated with them, please see the "Multiple States" section above.

 

Who are your state lawmakers?

To find out who your Connecticut state lawmakers are, click here and enter the requested information.

 

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Maine

 

New England Connect: Maine

NEHA's members in Maine have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their state lawmakers in their hometown or at the Maine State House. Meetings will allow NEHA members to education lawmakers on the issues facing the bleeding disorders community. If you would like to participate, please contact Wendy Owens, NEHA's Advocacy Coordinator via email or at 781-326-7645.

 

Legislative Issues

To learn more about health care related advocacy issues in Maine, please visit the Maine Consumers for Affordable Health Care site.

 

Who are your state lawmakers?

To find your out who your elected officials are in Maine, visit the State of Maine Voter Information Lookup Service.

 

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Massachusetts

 

New England Connect: Massachusetts

NEHA's members in Maine have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their state lawmakers in their hometown or at the Maine State House. Meetings will allow NEHA members to education lawmakers on the issues facing the bleeding disorders community. If you would like to participate, please contact Wendy Owens, NEHA's Advocacy Coordinator via email or at 781-326-7645.

 

Legislative Issues

Hemophilia Advisory Committee Bill (H1526) -  In January, lead sponsor Representative Jeffrey Sanchez filed a revised version of the Hemophilia Advisory Committee bill, HB1526.  Rep. Sanchez is the chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health. Passage of the bill would authorize the creation and maintenance of the Hemophilia Advisory Committee. The Committee would, among other things:

 

1. Advise both the Commissioner of Public Health and the Commissioner of Insurance on a broad array of issues, including access to care, insurance coverage, standards of treatment, public education, and other matters that affect the interests of the MA bleeding and clotting disorders communities; and
2. Support the Commonwealth in addressing the needs of a large number of people of all ages affected by bleeding and clotting disorders in Massachusetts.

 

You can support this bill by contacting your state lawmakers and encourage them to support the bill. For more information on supporting this bill, please contact NEHA's Advocacy Coordinator, Wendy Owens, via email or at 781-326-7645.

 

Please contact your Massachusetts state lawmakers and ask them to support the bill to preclude the implementation of specialty drug tiers, Senate Bill S 455. To learn more about specialty drug tiers and the problems associated with them, please see the "Multiple States" section above.

 

Who are your state lawmakers?

Massachusetts residence can find out who their elected officials are at “Find Your MA Elected Official.”

 

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New Hampshire

 

New England Connect: New Hampshire

NEHA's members in New Hampshire have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their state lawmakers in their hometown or at the New Hampshire State House. Meetings will allow NEHA members to education lawmakers on the issues facing the bleeding disorders community. If you would like to participate, please contact Wendy Owens, NEHA's Advocacy Coordinator via email or at 781-326-7645.

 

Legislative Issues

Find out what bills are before the New Hampshire General Court by visiting the General Court's web site.

 

Who are your state lawmakers?

Visit New Hampshire's "Who is my legislator?" site to find out who your state lawmakers are.

 

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Rhode Island

 

New England Connect: Rhode Island 

NEHA's members in Rhode Island have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their state lawmakers in their hometown or at the Rhode Island State House. Meetings will allow NEHA members to education lawmakers on the issues facing the bleeding disorders community. If you would like to participate, please contact Wendy Owens, NEHA's Advocacy Coordinator via email or at 781-326-7645.

 

Legislative Issues

Please contact your Rhode Island state lawmakers and ask them to support the bill to preclude the implementation of specialty drug tiers, "An Act Relating to Insurance" (H 5568). To learn more about specialty drug tiers and the problems associated with them, please see the "Multiple States" section above.

 

Who are your state lawmakers?

Vist the Rhode Island Voter Information Center to learn who your state lawmakers are.

 

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Vermont

 

New England Connect: Vermont

NEHA's members in Vermont have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with their state lawmakers in their hometown or at the Vermont State House. Meetings will allow NEHA members to education lawmakers on the issues facing the bleeding disorders community. If you would like to participate, please contact Wendy Owens, NEHA's Advocacy Coordinator via email or at 781-326-7645.

 

Legislative Issues

Please contact your Vermont state lawmakers and ask them to support the amendments to preclude the implementation of specialty drug tiers in the bill "An Act Relating to a Single-Payer and Unified Health System" (HB202 & SB57). To learn more about specialty drug tiers and the problems associated with them, please see the "Multiple States" section above.

 

Who are your state lawmakers?

You can find a list of Vermont state representatives here. You can find a list of Vermont state senators here.

Vermont voters can now “vote-by-phone” on election day. This is a particularly good option for people who have trouble filling out paper forms. To learn more, visit click here.

 

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