Ohio senators hold first hearing on bill to ban midyear nonmedical prescription switches

Senator Liston, sponsor of Senate Bill 160, told the Senate Financial Institutions, Insurance, and Technology Committee that the bill would "prohibit the practice of non medical switching in the middle of a plan year." The measure would stop insurers from changing drug coverage during a contract period for reasons unrelated to a patient’s health, she said.

The bill’s backers and several physician-testifying senators said nonmedical switching — when an insurer replaces a covered medication with a different drug chosen for cost savings — can destabilize chronic conditions and increase downstream health care costs. "When people are forced to change…