Rep. Raul Ruiz co-introduced the Safe Step Act in April and has helped educate members of Congress about how step therapy hurts patient outcomes and care.... [Read More]
An Interview with ACR Honoree Rep. Raul Ruiz on Step Therapy Reform
Search results for: step therapy
Rheumatology Patients & Providers Push for Step Therapy, Workforce Changes
Rheumatology professional and patients visited with 117 legislators and their staffs during the 2019 Advocates for Arthritis event to champion better rheumatology patient care and access.... [Read More]
Advocates for Arthritis Will Target Step Therapy, Workforce Shortage
The 2019 event, to be held Sept. 9-10 in Washington, D.C., will bring together rheumatology professionals and patients to advocate on behalf of the rheumatology community.... [Read More]
The ACR & ARP Fight Step Therapy on Capitol Hill
Step therapy (or fail first) policies introduce significant barriers to access to effective treatments for patients with rheumatic diseases. They also impose significant administrative and cost burdens on providers and practices. The ACR and ARP are advocating state governments, Congress and regulatory agencies limit the impact of these policies on access to care by creating… [Read More]
Step Therapy Legislation in the States: Navigating a Varied & Complex System
As the practice of step therapy grows more pervasive throughout the insurance industry, the protocols become increasingly confusing to navigate. Steps vary from insurer to insurer based on plan type, and formulary differences are too often based on economic incentives rather than outcome-based medicine. Patients are often left hanging in the balance while physicians’ offices… [Read More]
ACR Introduces Prior Authorization & Step Therapy Resolutions at AMA Meeting
This year, the American Medical Association (AMA) convened its annual House of Delegates (HOD) meeting June 8–12 in Chicago to discuss emerging and public health issues. Among the many policies and practices discussed: two resolutions put forth by the ACR on behalf of ACR and ARP members, one concerning prior authorization and another concerning step… [Read More]
State Step Therapy Laws: Not All Are Created Equal
Step therapy reform has been a hot topic and major focus of the ACR’s advocacy activity in states this legislative session. Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin and Florida are all considering step therapy bills that stand good chance of passing this legislative year. Virginia and Georgia have already passed step therapy laws. When these two new laws… [Read More]
ACR Leaders Discuss E/M Coding Changes, Step Therapy & More
CHICAGO—ACR leaders described a series of looming legislative and regulatory threats to rheumatologists and their patients—including the proposed collapsing of evaluation and management (E/M) coding and potential changes to step therapy rules—and urged everyone in the field to make their voices heard to quash the proposals. They also recounted recent victories in the policy realm… [Read More]
Texas Rheumatologists Push for Passage of Step Therapy Reforms
On May 25, with Gov. Greg Abbott’s signing of Senate Bill 680, Texas became the fourth state this year to increase protection for patients subject to insurers’ step therapy protocols. The State of Texas Association of Rheumatologists (STAR) joined with 35 other professional societies and patient advocacy organizations in urging passage of S.B. 680. The… [Read More]
Step Therapy and Biosimilar Substitution Top the Priority List for the Rheumatology Association of Iowa
A little more than three years ago, rheumatologist Michael Brooks, MD, FACP, FACR, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, turned years of discussion into something tangible: He and his colleagues got the paperwork and financial requirements in order and officially started the Rheumatology Association of Iowa. “We had been trying to get something going statewide in terms of… [Read More]
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