During the OAR Advocacy Day at the Ohio Statehouse on May 4, 2017, are: Dr. Ott, in the black suit, flanked by three OAR board members, a CNP and thre residents from the Internal Medicine and Family Practice residency programs at Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster, Ohio.
Like many other state rheumatology associations, the Ohio Association of Rheumatology (OAR) has recently been actively advocating for patient care at the state legislative level. The most recent example of OAR’s efforts included an Advocacy Day on May 4, when members met with state legislators to discuss topics of interest. It was the fourth such event for OAR. Topping the current advocacy agenda are Senate Bill 56 and its companion bill in the House, HB 72, which aim to reform step therapy protocols by, among other things, requiring that an insurer’s process for requesting a step therapy override be transparent and available to the provider and patient; and by allowing automatic exceptions to step therapy requirements under certain conditions, such as when the patient is stable on a prescription drug for the medical condition under consideration.
Similar to step therapy reforms recently passed in Texas, the goal is to ensure that step therapy programs are based on clinical guidelines developed by independent experts rather than solely on monetary considerations.
