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Patient With Rare Cancer Urges Lawmakers to Restore Copay Assistance Exceptions for Specialty Drugs
Summary
A Massachusetts patient testified that a state rule blocking private copay assistance for expensive specialty drugs left her facing $1,200 monthly co‑pays when a generic was listed as available but not actually distributed, and she urged the committee to consider exceptions.
Kathleen Demarest of East Long Meadow told the Joint Committee on Financial Services she was diagnosed with a rare, incurable pancreatic cancer and that a state rule recently removed her access to copay assistance for a specialty drug (Lanreotide). She said the removal occurred because a generic was recorded as available in state records even though distribution issues meant the generic would not…
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