Urge your State Legislators to Support Step Therapy Revisions in Maryland

Please Support HB 785 and prohibit insurers from imposing step therapy protocol used to treat mental health conditions. Currently, some insurers may use “step therapy” (or “fail-first”) policies that require a person to try one or more insurer-preferred medications unsuccessfully before they receive coverage for the medication that their doctor recommends. While step therapy is often promoted as a cost-saving strategy, policies restricting access to medications can cause adverse outcomes, sometimes leading to emergency department visits, hospitalizations, homelessness, or unnecessary criminal justice involvement. HB 785 seeks to exempt step therapy if the medication is used to treat a mental condition.

Individuals with mental health conditions, step therapy has unintended — and sometimes dangerous —consequences. Maryland law should maintain access to provider-recommended medications and should specifically prohibit step therapy for medications that treat a serious mental illness, and establish clear, rapid timelines for insurer responses to requests for exceptions.

For individuals who take medications for their mental health condition, one size does not fit all. Mental health medications affect people — even those with the same diagnosis — in different ways, including varying levels of effectiveness and different side effects. Because of this, it is important that a person can access the medication that works best for them.

The cost to individuals, families, and communities when a person with mental illness must fail on one medication before getting the right treatment that they need is too high.

I urge you to vote YES on HB 785 and maintain the exemption to step therapy for medications used to treat a mental health condition.