One quick email to your state leaders can make a difference!
Please go to this link https://legis.wisconsin.gov/ and under the title Who Are My Legislators? type in your address to find your local State Senator and copy in their emails.
Next, create your own brief email to both and send! Here’s some help:
TO: [Insert Email of Your State Senators here]
SUBJECT: Please PASS SB203 Soon to Make All Copays Count
My name is [NAME] and I live at [ADDRESS] in your district. I am writing to respectfully ask for your vote of support of Senate Bill 203 - Cole’s Act when it comes to the Senate floor for consideration. SB203 will put patients first instead of greedy insurers and prevent an unfair insurer policy from hurting patients statewide and making them pay twice for their medications.
Insurers and their PBMs have created a copay accumulator policy that prevents non-profit and manufacturer drug copay assistance from counting toward patient deductibles and out of pocket maximums. That forces patients to pay huge up-front costs to satisfy their deductible to get the medications they need. Meantime, the insurers redirect the patient assistance to their ledger, instead of a patient’s, allowing insurer PBMs to essentially “double dip.” Let’s be clear – forcing patients to pay twice, is not nice, nor is it fair and PBMs need to be held accountable!
A majority of legislators in the Wisconsin Senate and nearly as many in the Wisconsin Assembly now support Wisconsin passing a law to stop this terrible policy from occurring. Additionally, 24 States have also adopted “All Copays Count” legislation, and almost all have done so unanimously. SB203/Cole’s Act requires PBMs count copay assistance toward patient cost-sharing end copay accumulators. The Senate will soon vote on this bill and we need your support! These insurer practices disproportionately target the most financially vulnerable patients with serious chronic health conditions, create an affordability crisis and essentially undermine pre-existing condition protections.
[Include your personal story: As a patient with a chronic illness, caregiver of a loved one, family member, concerned citizen – this issue is important to me. What the insurers are doing to those who depend on this type of assistance is appalling and Wisconsin must stand up with a law to make all drug assistance copays count.]
There are literally tens of thousands of patients around our state who will be negatively impacted if insurers are allowed to impose their Copay Accumulator and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) policies on patients who need medically necessary medications to survive. PBMs are insurer middlemen who are making patients pay twice for medications which leaves Wisconsin’s most vulnerable unable to pay for lifesaving medications! It’s wrong and it needs to be stopped!
Please support putting patients first and Making All Copays Count by supporting and voting for SB203!
