This March 21st was HCC’s first in person Legislative Day since 2019. We had 35 advocates from across the State of California come to Sacramento. They told their stories to legislators and their staff in 36 separate meetings. We were also joined by 14 Future Leaders and several Future Leader mentors. Advocates spoke on behalf of AB 874 (Weber), a bill co-sponsored by HCC. AB 874 would guarantee insurers count patient copay assistance towards a patient’s deductible.
Some advocates told personal stories of how copay accumulators had affected them. Their pharmacies had told them their patient assistance had run out. Yet they still had to pay their entire deductible. Insurance deductibles can be in the $1,000s of dollars. As such, this was a very high, unexpected bill to pay. Still, they had to pay it before they could access their essential medications. These stories often shocked our legislators and surprised them. They often didn’t know that copay accumulators were preventing patient access to the medications patients rely on. HCC is grateful to all our Legislative Day advocates and Future Leaders! Because of your excellent work, we are hopeful our bill AB 874 will have the legislator support it needs.
If you were unable to attend Legislative Day with us this year, you can still help! Support AB 874 by visiting https://p2a.co/lEm2YIA and sending an email and/or Tweet to your legislators in support of the bill. Your voice matters! Send a letter today on the last day of Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month!
Assemblymember Akilah Weber, M.D. awarded HCC’s Legislator of the Year
HCC Executive Director Lynne Kinst
2023 Legislative Day Advocates
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