Here in the Legislature, I have the privilege of serving on two legislative committees. First is the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, of which I am honored to serve as chair. The second is the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee. I thoroughly enjoy serving on both of these committees, but today I wanted to take some time to highlight some of our recent work in HCIFS.

Part of the reason that I enjoy serving on this committee is that I get to work on issues I have seen firsthand as a nurse-midwife. I’ve seen patients struggle to afford their medications, and I’ve seen them worry about how much a visit to the doctor or procedure will cost. This has always been painful for me. My belief that we need to take action on these issues only grew when I ran for office. I heard from so many people in our community about their struggles with our health care system, and the difficult decisions they have had to make, like paying for a prescription or filling the fridge with food. Last year, we made great progress in this area, but it’s not enough. We need to keep pushing until no one worries about affording their medication, doctor’s visits or how much health insurance costs.

This session, the HCIFS Committee has already passed three new pieces of legislation that will keep moving us in the right direction. The first bill is sponsored by my colleague Sen. Heather Sanborn, D-Portland, and goes after “copay accumulator programs” that essentially double-bill patients for their medication. For folks who are dealing with chronic diseases, the medications they need to survive can be extremely costly and take a toll on their budget. Sometimes, these patients can find some limited financial help to afford the prescription. However, health insurers that have implemented copay accumulator programs don’t count that financial assistance toward the patient’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. This effectively nullifies any benefit a patient might’ve received from the financial assistance, saddling them with costs they weren’t planning for. This practice is wrong and provides no benefit to a patient. We’re working to put an end to it.

Another bill sponsored by Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, will allow people with chronic diseases to get an emergency supply of a medicine from a pharmacy if they have a prescription for that medication, but could not get a refill authorized by their doctor at the time they needed it. This bill is very important; Rep. Roeder cited her asthma and need for an emergency inhaler as an example of why. If you’re having an asthma attack and don’t have a working inhaler, the emergency supply from a pharmacy could literally save your life. Currently, however, a pharmacist may not be allowed to provide that. This bill will make a real difference in times of crisis.

The third bill I wanted to highlight is sponsored by Rep. Richard Evans, D-Dover-Foxcroft, who is also a physician, and would direct the newly established Maine Office of Affordable Health Care to analyze barriers to affordable health care and coverage and make proposals to solve those issues. The bill also requires the Office to submit a report back to the committee with these policy recommendations. You might recall that last year we passed a bill that created the Office of Affordable Health Care, and by now passing Rep. Evans’ bill, we can give the office a clear charge and mission for when it’s up and running.

These bills are all on their way to being voted on by the full Senate and House, and is only a small sample of the work we do in the HCIFS Committee. It’s my honor to work on your behalf every day fighting for policies that will make sure all Mainers can access the affordable, quality coverage that we all deserve.

Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, comments or ideas. You can send me an email at Stacy.Brenner@legislature.maine.gov or call my office at 287-1515.