Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mental Health Medication Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Debate over dash-27 amendment to HB 4040 exposes split between industry and patient advocates on prior authorization
Summary
Witnesses and advocates differed over HB 4040 dash-27: industry witnesses said technical implementation problems require preserving current access via the amendment; the National Alliance on Mental Illness urged rejection, saying dash-27 would undo carefully negotiated safeguards from 2021.
At a Feb. 10 hearing on House Bill 4040, proponents and opponents sparred over a late-filed dash-27 amendment that would change prior-authorization rules for certain mental health medications in Medicaid.
Anne Murray of Bristol Myers Squibb told the committee the amendment would effectively restore longstanding open-access practice after the Oregon Health Authority told stakeholders it could not implement a statutory "dispense as written" mechanism in current data systems. Murray said the dash-27 language would align statute with current practice and temporarily preserve patient access while stakeholders craft a durable fix.
Chris Bonoff, executive director of NAMI Oregon, urged the committee to reject dash-27. Bonoff said the amendment would undo collaborative work that produced HB 3045 in 2021, remove important safeguards such as the long grandfathering lookback period and prescriber override mechanisms, and risk making open access permanent at a time when policymakers are seeking balanced approaches to manage Medicaid pharmacy costs.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about the technical limitation Bonoff and others described. Bonoff and proponents said they are working with OHA, the Oregon Psychiatric Access Line at OHSU, and the Mental Health Clinical Advisory Group toward a technical fix to return full statutory implementation in 2027.
The committee closed the public hearing and indicated the dash-27 amendment will be taken up again in a subsequent meeting on Thursday, Feb. 12.
