Prescription Drug Pricing Bill Will Protect Millions of New Yorkers
June 8, 2010
As the cost of prescription drugs continues to rise, health insurance plans have responded by creating new cost-sharing “specialty tiers” within their prescription drug formularies. In states such as California, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, insured consumers with chronic diseases and life-threatening illnesses are charged “coinsurance” (typically 25%-33% of the cost of the drug per month) instead of a flat co-payment for drugs they need to save their life or to prevent disease progression—many of which cost of hundreds or thousands of dollars each month.
Today, I released a report (”Prohibiting Specialty Tiers in Prescription Drug Formularies”), which you can download as a PDF or read below.
Prohibiting Specialty Tiers in Prescription Drug Formularies
Specialty tiering is a rapidly growing practice, and we need to stop it in New York while we still can. In 2004, only 3% of health insurance plans nationwide included a specialty tier, but that number jumped to 17.5% in 2009—and there is reason to believe that insurers in New York are contemplating incorporating specialty tiers into their plans. This is antithetical to the purpose of insurance, which is the spreading of costs. Charging New Yorkers who are the most ill for the bulk of the cost of insurance is morally reprehensible—and terrible public health policy.
The drugs that insurance plans commonly categorize as “specialty” drugs under specialty tier schemes are used to treat conditions that impact almost four million New Yorkers. These diseases and conditions include: breast cancer, colorectal cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, HIV and AIDS, cystic fibrosis, Chron’s disease, ulcerative colitis, hepatitis B and C, diabetes, psoriasis, kidney disease, anemia, and neutropenia, among other serious medical conditions.
When severely ill people face financial problems because of medical bills they are four to five times more likely to stop treatment. Banning specialty tiers in New York will ensure that people with life threatening illnesses and chronic diseases never have to choose between spending hundreds—or even thousands—of dollars on the drugs they need to stay alive or to pay the rent or buy groceries for their family.
The bill (A.8278-b/S.5000-b) has passed the State Senate and is scheduled for a vote in the Assembly’s Insurance Committee on Wednesday.
Micah Kellner is MS Society of NYC Legislator of the Year
February 16, 2010
On February 1st, I was honored to be named 2010 Legislator of the Year by the NYC-Southern New York Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at their annual meeting at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Midtown.
The MS Society, an organization I am grateful to have worked with since my election on a number of critical issues near and dear to my heart, had this to say about selecting me as this year’s awardee:
Assembly Member Micah Kellner is this year’s Legislator of the Year. Since his election to the NY State Assembly in 2007, Assembly Member Kellner has championed many issues important to people living with MS and has become a powerful voice for the rights of persons with disabilities throughout the state.
Over the past year, Assembly Member Kellner introduced legislation that would establish an MTA riders council for people with disabilities, cap fares for paratransit transportation, provide improved access to taxi cabs for people with disabilities, and improved maintenance of subway and bus equipment used to make public transportation accessible. When the MTA proposed to double the fare for access-a-ride last March, Assembly Member Kellner led the opposition holding spirited protests and news conferences. His passionate activism helped secure a victory when the MTA later dropped the proposal. Assembly Member Kellner also joined MS activists as they rallied outside of the Citi Field subway station to raise awareness of the barriers to accessibility within the NYC subway system. He demonstrated his commitment even further when, last April, he introduced legislation that would ban specialty prescription drug tiers within health insurance plans throughout New York State.
MTA: Take Me Home from the Ballgame!
April 20, 2009
I am pictured here with two activists from the NYC Chapter of the MS Society and Councilmember John Liu protesting the inaccessible subway stop at Citi Field.
I may be the world’s biggest Mets fan, and on April 13, the night of the Mets home opener, I attended a protest, organized by the New York City chapter of the MS Society, outside of Citi Field at the Mets/Willets Point subway station to highlight the inaccessibility of that subway stop for Mets fans.
The subway station, which is on the Number 7 line, is only accessible to people with disabilities on one side. People traveling from the stadium to Manhattan who require accessible accommodations can’t access that platform because the accessible entrance is on the Queens-bound side. To get back to Manhattan, a wheelchair user needs to travel against the crowd, and take the 7 train in the wrong direction to the very last stop on the line. Once they arrive at the last stop, they are then supposed to transfer to a Manhattan bound train and go all the way back to in the other direction to continue on to Manhattan.
The entire process is an enormous inconvenience and totally unnecessary. The MTA could have easily installed a ramp on the Manhattan-bound side of the station. I hope that because of this protest, they will now rectify their error. The protest received some great coverage including a story by the Associated Press that was picked up by most sports news outlets, including CBS Sports (“Disabled fans protest poor accessibility near Citi Field”), and a local piece here on the Upper East Side in Our Town (”Subway Stop Not So Amazin’ for Kellner“).
The NYC Chapter of the MS Society’s press release about the protest has further information about the problems at Citi Field, “MS activists raise awareness about inaccessible MTA subway stations at Mets home opener.”
Last May, I introduced two bills to address accessibility issues in our mass transit system. The first would create the MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities (A.10734-A/S.7817-Duane). The Council will have 14 appointed members who represent riders who use NYC Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North systems. The Council will have a non-voting seat on the MTA Board and make recommendations for improved services.
The second bill (A.10420/S.7348-Duane) requires daily inspections of elevators, escalators, bus lifts and other accessibility features in MTA facilities and establishes documentation requirements and oversight for their repair.
VIDEO: New Bill Prevents MTA from Raising Access-A-Ride Fare to $5
March 9, 2009
Video of Sunday, March 8th press conference announcing paratransit fare equity legislation with Sen. Tom Duane, Comptroller Bill Thompson, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Advocates representing the following groups also attended: United Spinal Association, United Cerebral Palsy of NYC, MS Society of NYC, Disabilities Network of NYC, Disabled in Action, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, and the 504 Democratic Club. (Note: Some additional video footage of advocates speaking was unplayable; my apologies!)
When the MTA began operating Access-A-Ride in 1993, during the Dinkins Administration, they signed a written agreement with the City of New York promising never to raise the fare above what they charged regular mass transit users. This fall, the MTA decided to break that covenant and put forward a proposal to charge Access-A-Ride users double what they have proposed to charge everyone else. Right now, when someone with a disability uses Access-A-Ride, they pay $2; the same as when someone takes the subway or rides the bus. If the MTA has their way, straphangers will be paying up to $2.50 — a burden enough for the larger New Yorker riding public — but people with disabilities who rely on Access-A-Ride are expected to pay $5.
This is discrimination, plain and simple. Unbelievably, it is 2009 and a public agency is singling out a class of people and saying, “You should pay more based on who you are.” If this was being done to people based on their race or their gender there would be widespread outrage. But sadly, discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities are so deeply ingrained in our society that people still need to be reminded that it is wrong.
This week, Senator Tom Duane and I are introducing legislation to force the MTA to keep their word about treating people with disabilities fairly. Our bill prevents any transportation authority in New York State from raising paratransit fares higher than what they charge regular transit users.
It is sad that this is necessary. At the MTA’s budget hearings we saw hundreds of wheelchair users and other people with severe disabilities braving a difficult commute to tell the MTA that a $5 fare would sentence them to isolation. Articulate and passionate advocates stood before the MTA Board and reminded them of the contract they made with the City of New York and admonished them to keep their word. But the MTA hasn’t changed its mind; instead, it has dug in its heels and decided to balance their budget on the backs of the riders who can least afford it.
We will not allow this to happen. As a person with a mobility impairment myself, and as a legislator, I will not sit back and watch the MTA implement a fare structure that discriminates against a class of New Yorkers. New York has a proud tradition of equality and opportunity for all, and together we can ensure that this continues. We will not allow the MTA to use this fiscal crisis to leave the frail elderly and riders with disabilities stranded.
The New York Post ran an article (”Don’t Hike Disabled Fares: Pols” 3/7/09) about this legislation last weekend.
Fighting for the Rights of People with Disabilities
January 17, 2009
As many of you know, advocating on the issues that impact people with disabilities is very important to me. Last week was very busy on the disabilities rights front, and I wanted to give a brief update about what I’ve been up to.
On January 14th, I testified at the MTA hearing in Manhattan in opposition to the fare hikes and service cuts being proposed. I urged to give the state legislature and the federal government the time we need to come up with the funds that are needed. Paramount in my testimony was my opposition to fare hikes proposed for Access-A-Ride riders. While the MTA is considering raising the fare for those straphangers who are physically able to use the regular mass transit system by as much as 50% (from $2 to as much as $3), they are asking riders with disabilities to absorb an outrageously disproportionate fare increase of as much as 300% (from $2 to as much as $6).
Affordable and accessible transportation is a lifeline for people with disabilities and the frail elderly. 64% of Access-A-Ride users have total household incomes at less than 250% of the federal poverty level. It is a matter of simple mathematics. The many riders who depend on Access-A-Ride will literally be unable to leave their homes under this proposed fare structure. My testimony can be found in the Publications area of my website.
I am pictured here with Paul B. Feuerstein, Board Chair of the Disabilities Network of NYC and President/CEO of Barrier Free Living
(left) and Lawrence Carter-Long, Executive Director of DNNYC (right). Note: We are standing in front of the VISIONS banner, the organization which hosted the meeting. VISIONS is a tremendous organization serving and advocating for people who are blind or visually impaired.
I had the great pleasure of addressing the Disabilities Network of New York City at their visioning meeting on January 15th. This is a truly diverse organization representing people with physical, vision, and hearing disabilities. The community gathering’s purpose was to determine the shared vision for advocacy goals of DNNYC. I delivered welcoming remarks at the event. Here is a brief snippet of those remarks:
As someone with a mobility disability myself, I understand from firsthand experiences the myriad of challenges that people with disabilties face. We need to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to transportation options that serve them and the MTA and the TLC won’t do this without our continued advocacy and creative thinking. We need to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to affordable, comprehensive, and quality health care. And this will not happen without our vigilance and persistence. The secret of effective politics is participation. That’s it. And is must come from people with disabilities in order for our issues to be at the forefront. It is the task and the responsibility of everyone here to make your voice heard by those that represent you, be they in City Hall, Albany or Washington, DC.
We are not an insignificant minority that can brushed aside. We are 20% of the general population and the attention the media has given to our issues while increasing, has never matched our numbers.
In less than a week we will be witnessing a changing of the guard in Washington, DC and last week we saw one in Albany —now is the time for DNNYC to make a coordinated effort to ensure we leverage our community’s growing political strength.
If you are interested in getting involved in advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, I highly recommend giving your time to this important organization.
Assembly Member Alan Maisel and I talking about health policy with PJ Weiner, Manager of Advocacy Programs for the MS Society of NYC (far right) and Robin Einbinder, Vice President of the MS Society of NYC (second from the right).
After the DNNYC event, I headed over to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of New York City inaugral legislative reception. I had the great honor of being asked to co-host this event. An impressive gathering of members of the MS Society met with their legislators including the newly minted Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Tom Duane, Assembly Members Linda Rosenthal and Alan Maisel, NYC Council Members John Liu and Gale Brewer, and representatives from the offices of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Senator Daniel Squadron, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Assembly Member Jonathan Bing, and Council Members Jessica Lappin and Oliver Koppell.
There were many issues discussed at this event, but paramount on the minds of the MS Society members I spoke to was the issue of Tier IV pricing — and the need for support for a ban on this practice in New York. The MS Society has worked with Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith on legislation that would ban Tier IV drug pricing, a bill that I am excited to support in the New York State Assembly.
The proposed legislation would ban the creation of a fourth tier in a company’s prescription drug pricing forumlae. In states where this has been allowed to happen, medication treating diseases such as anemia, cancer, MS, and hepatitis C are categorized separately from other prescription drugs and co-payments have amounted to up to 33% of the total cost of each prescription. Patients with chronic diseases are seeing fees dramatically increase to hundreds or even thousands of dollars per prescription per month. This can never be allowed to happen in New York and I am greatful to the MS Society of New York City for raising this important issue and working with the legislature to protect all New Yorkers from this unacceptable threat to access to health care.
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My community office is here to help you.
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New York, NY 10065
Tel 212-860-4906
Fax 917-432-2983
Email KellnerM@assembly.state.ny.us
