The Cancer Support Community supports H.R. 2630/S. 652, the Safe Step Act, to establish readily available processes for doctors to seek exceptions to step therapy. This legislation amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to create reasonable guardrails on the use of step therapy, increasing timely access to treatment and reducing administrative costs and burdens to the healthcare system.
Step therapy is a policy where a patient must first try at least one less expensive alternative medication, to the one the doctor prescribes. Only if that cheaper product does not work or some cases the several different products do not work well will the insurance company cover the originally prescribed treatment. When used inappropriately, step therapy can cause delays in treatment, increased distress, and unexpected costs.
