Vermont Action Alert
Vermont Action Alert: H. 233
Many in the bleeding disorders community, along with many other patients who require costly medications, rely on copay assistance programs to help defray the out-of-pocket (OOP) cost of their prescription drugs.
Recently, health insurers have been accepting this assistance, but refusing to credit the funds toward patients’ deductibles and OOP maximums. This practice, also known as “copay accumulator adjustment,” leaves the patient responsible for paying the full amount of their OOP maximum. This ultimately puts their health and financial security at risk.
In May, Green Mountain State Lawmakers in both the Vermont Senate and Vermont House passed H. 233 a bill that would support patients with rare diseases from financially devastating impacts of copay accumulator adjusters.
How You Can Help: Email or Call Governor Scott's Office
On Friday, May 24, the bill was officially delivered to Governor Phil Scott. Every family in Vermont now has a role to play to help us protect patients with bleeding disorders and other chronic conditions. Please take two minutes out of your day to call or email the Governor’s Office to ask him to sign this bill into law. See below for a phone call script / copy and paste email template.
Please contact Governor Scott before Friday, May 31:
- Call Governor Scott’s office at 802-828-3333
- Email Governor Scott’s office by clicking here.
Copy & Paste Email Template / Phone Call Script
The red text below is where you can insert your own information. You can either copy and paste this template as is, or you may add additional information or modify this template if you wish.
Hello,
My name is _________ (NAME) and I live in _________ (TOWN), Vermont. _________ (DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE – Example: I am a patient with hemophilia / I am the parent to a child with a bleeding disorder).
I am reaching out to Governor Scott today to urge him to sign H.233, a bill that will provide crucial protections for patients with rare diseases in Vermont.
H.233 not only protects local Vermont pharmacies from predatory pharmacy benefit manager practices, but also patients by ensuring that Vermonters with rare diseases obtain their lifesaving and life-sustaining medication, with no generics available, without the possibility of financial ruin.
I support H.233 because I believe that this bill would support patients with rare diseases from financially devastating impacts of PBM double-dipping.
Thank you for your time, and I appreciate your consideration.
_________ (YOUR NAME)
Further Questions
If you have any questions about this bill, please contact [email protected].