OHIO — A piece of legislation, House Bill 177, is aimed at making sure patients can afford their co-pays for medication without barriers is moving through the Ohio legislature.
Leo Almeida, director of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, reinforced the challenge that affording medication is expensive at pharmacies.
“That’s especially true for cancer patients,” he said. “Cancer drugs tend to be very expensive, and even if you have insurance coverage, sometimes your co-pay can be very high, even $500, for example, for a medication.”
This is why many people look for help in paying for their medication through a co-pay assistance program, a charity, their church or some other community organization. When people use money from another party, the goal is that they won’t have to pay any additional costs when they pick up their medication, but that’s not what’s happening for many Ohioans.
“What’s currently happening is that the insurance company is not required to apply that co-pay to the patient’s out of pocket deductible for the year, which means that they will continue to have to pay that deductible,” Almeida said.
Essentially, people are having to shell out more cash than anticipated as a result.
“So I’m only receiving partial benefit of the co-pay assistance program,” he said.
This is why he and others are looking to make changes. If a bill can get through the legislature, he said it would make buying healthcare more affordable.
“By meeting your deductible quicker, that means that you won’t have to pay as much for either your medication or even other medical procedures throughout the year,” he said.