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Panel recommends waiving copays for key LDL-lowering drugs in bid to boost treatment access
Summary
The committee recommended passage of a bill that would eliminate patient cost-sharing for rosuvastatin and ezetimibe for covered plans, and included a committee substitute; sponsor said the change would remove barriers to treatment following calcium-scan screening.
Senate Health and Public Affairs gave a due-pass recommendation to a committee substitute for Senate Bill 443, which would eliminate cost-sharing for rosuvastatin and ezetimibe — common, low-cost cholesterol-lowering medicines — in fully insured health plans covered by the bill.
The sponsor said the measure complements a proposed mandate for no-cost coronary artery calcium screening by removing financial barriers to the medicines that experts use to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol after a positive scan.
Committee members asked whether the coverage would apply to pharmacy benefit managers or to mail-order and out-of-state pharmacies; the sponsor said the measure applies to in-state fully insured plans regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance and that technical clarifications would be addressed before floor action.
No senators in the roll call registered opposition to the committee substitute; the committee reported the bill 9–0 with a due-pass recommendation.
