Maryland lawmakers considering legislation to help cover patient medications
Maryland lawmakers are discussing legislation that would help cover patient medications.
Senate Bill 773 and House Bill 1246 would require insurance companies to apply assistance toward a patient's deductible, rather than getting paid twice.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and is expected to go to conference with the House and Senate next week. It could then make its way to the governor's desk for approval.
The proposed bill would relieve stress for countless patients in Maryland who rely on financial assistance and grants to pay for their medication.
"The insurance company will take that money but they won't apply it towards a patient's deductible," said Lance Kilpatrick, the government relations director of the American Cancer Society Community Action Network. "Therefore, the patient is still on the hook for whatever that deductible is going forward, while the insurance company has gotten paid that financial assistance as well."
"It would improve my life"
It's been 26 months since Dozetta Lewis found out that she had cancer.
"At 54, and as a retired correctional officer, you're like, 'I'm ready to live my life,' but to have my life altered, it was hard," Lewis said.
Lewis thought a double mastectomy, followed by 20 rounds of chemotherapy, would be the hardest part of her recovery.
However, while she is in remission, she still fights another battle with her insurance company to cover post-chemo medication.
"I need it," Lewis said. "I've been without it because the cost of it is more than my rent every month."
Kilpatrick says that when you are given a serious diagnosis, the first thought shouldn't be about the cost of prescriptions and treatment.
""When you get that type of diagnosis, you're talking with your doctor, and they give you that diagnosis, you shouldn't be thinking about, 'Oh my God, how am I going to be able to afford this?'" Kilpatrick said.
Lewis says if this bill passes, she will be able to get medication that could change her future.
"It would improve my life extremely well," Lewis said. "It will prevent me from a reoccurrence of cancer somewhere else like my skin."
Lewis says it would impact her life and the lives of so many others in her shoes, not just physically, but also mentally.
"That's the one thing they tell you throughout your whole journey and even after: reduce your stress," Lewis said.
