Bill To Help Health Insurance Copays Gets Life – InsuranceNewsNet

Many drug manufacturers offer coupons or other financial assistance to help consumers pay co-payments (including deductibles or coinsurance) for typically expensive drugs needed for rare diseases.

A bipartisan bill that would help patients meet health insurance copayments could finally be moved after being dormant for more than a year after the health committee passed it unanimously. ‘Ohio.

A Dispatch article earlier this month described how House Bill 135 was mysteriously stalled after questions were raised by the Cincinnati representative. Bill Seitz, the No. 3 House GOP leader. Dozens of advocacy groups – like the American Cancer Society, The AIDS Instituteand Ohio State Medical Association – support the measurement. Only organizations representing health insurers and drug benefit managers have openly opposed the bill.

The proposal – taking an unusual route to being redirected to the Rules and Reference Committee, which is led directly by House leaders — will likely get a harmless amendment and pass the chamber, insiders say. The vote could take place as early as Wednesday.

The plan would effectively ban quota accumulators in Ohiojoining more than a dozen states and Porto Rico. This tactic represents a relatively new maneuver by health insurers that targets pharmaceutical companies but often catches patients in the crossfire.

Many drug manufacturers offer coupons or other financial assistance to help consumers pay co-payments (including deductibles or coinsurance) for typically expensive drugs needed for rare diseases. However, most health insurers now rule that consumers cannot count this help from drug manufacturers against their policy’s annual maximum for copayments/deductibles or out-of-pocket expenses.

“Accumulators reduce the cost (to the health insurer) by shifting more of a prescription’s expense to patients and manufacturers because (the insurer) effectively captures the value of two deductibles,” says one analyst. Adam Fein.

Insurers deny that they are “double dipping”.

Representatives. Susan ManchesterR-Waynesfieldand Thomas WestD-Canton. are the sponsors of the bill.

Speech DeWine vs.

FirstEnergy Bribes

Ohio Govt. by Mike DeWine The state of the state address was long scheduled for Wednesday noon.

A federal judge eager to Akron setting the same noon deadline just 24 hours earlier for FirstEnergy to reveal the names of company officials accused of bribes that paved the way for a $1 billion-more bailout for from ohio two nuclear power plants, originally owned by Akron– utility based.

As an added treat, emails obtained from then-Attorney General DeWine show that the future governor requested a meeting in early 2017 with the GOP representative. Larry Household – later Speaker of the House who was removed from office after being indicted for accepting the bribes. A few weeks later, DeWine met one of the new kickers: the CEO of FirstEnergy chuck joneswho was fired in 2020.

The federal investigation indicates that FirstEnergy began the process of moving the money around the same time, in early 2017.

Former Senior Vice President Michael Dowling was the other company official named Wednesday as paying bribes. Both men have denied wrongdoing and have not been charged.

Previously released tapes showed that DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted met the two for dinner at The athletic club near Statehouse in December 2018.

While none of this information was exactly a revelation, the juxtaposition gave Democrats the perfect opportunity to continue their political quest to award DeWine partial ownership of the $60 million-plus the House Bill 6 scandal characterized by federal authorities as the most important Ohio the story.

“Today’s revelation is just the latest link between Mike DeWine, Jon Husted and the biggest public corruption scandal in the history of the state,” the party chairman said. Elizabeth Walters.

‘The state of our state is corrupt,’ says Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Cranleyold Cincinnati mayor. “As governor, Mike DeWine oversees…the most corrupt state government in America. As a result, we pay higher utility bills to repay the bribes.”

The other Democratic candidate for governor, former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaleycriticized DeWine for making “no mention of Republican leaders bailing out a coal plant in Indiana at your expense”, a provision of HB 6 which remains in force.

DeWine Spokesperson Dan Tierney called the post-speech litany “more of the same unsubstantiated innuendo from these people. I’m not even sure they’re making any new baseless accusations.”

A raffle of “carry without a license” pistols

In his speech, DeWine called on lawmakers to “strengthen our laws to deal with violent offenders who have lost their legal right to own a gun, but still carry and use guns to commit violent crimes.”

But he was criticized for not mentioning his recent signing of a G.O.P. bill removing training requirements and a license to carry a concealed weapon in Ohio. The measure takes effect in mid-June.

The day before the governor’s speech, the Buckeye Firearms Association marked his victory by launching a raffle for a $2,200 “Permitless Carry” Staccato Pistol. Up to 1,000 tickets are sold for $25 each.

“This is a special moment in the fight for the right to own and bear arms. To celebrate, we wanted to provide a carry handgun that was just as special as this moment,” said the executive director of the group, Dean Rieck.

The 9mm pistol, named “gun of the week” last August by the National Rifle Association“is approved for service by more than 450 law enforcement agencies and worn by elite units like the Texas Rangers and the US Marshals Special Operations Groupas well as thousands of officers across the country,” says its manufacturer.

“The Staccato P is intentionally built to keep up with you as you defend your home and your country.”

The package includes approx. $800 other goodies: four 17-round and one 20-round magazines, Surefire X300U 1,000-lumen weapon light, Vertex Ready multicam backpack, 50 rounds of Hornady Critical Duty 9mm ammo, 200 rounds of Magtech 9mm and a Nexbelt Precisefit pistol belt.

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@darreldrowland

Many drug manufacturers offer coupons or other financial assistance to help consumers pay co-payments (including deductibles or coinsurance) for typically expensive drugs needed for rare diseases.

Capitol Insider

Darrel Rowland

Columbus Expedition

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