Global Healthy Living Foundation Urges Governor Cuomo to Sign Patient-Friendly Legislation Curbing Insurance Company Practice of Overriding Doctors’ Decisions

UPPER NYACK, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–If Governor Cuomo signs the recently passed Senate and Assembly bill, health insurance companies in New York will have a much tougher time overriding a doctor’s healthcare decisions. The Global Healthy Living Foundation, and a coalition of physician and patient organizations, including the Lupus and Allied Diseases Association and the U.S. Pain Foundation, have been working on passage of the bill since former Assemblyman Jonathan Bing introduced it more than five years ago.

@NYGovCuomo Please support #ChronicLife patients by signing A.2834D/S.3419C #steptherapy #arthritis @GHLForg

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The bills that passed both houses this week, A.2834D/S.3419C sponsored by Senator Catharine Young and Assembly Member Matthew Titone, create a transparent process so physicians and patients can appeal insurance company drug decisions that force patients to fail on one drug before getting the one originally prescribed. Fail First policies, also known as step therapy, save the insurance company money, but can result in serious negative medical consequences for consumers and the public health system.

“It’s extremely gratifying to witness New York State legislators working together to write a law that will put patients ahead of private insurance company profits. Now, we respectfully ask that Governor Cuomo take swift action to sign these bills into law,” said Seth Ginsberg, President and Co-founder, Global Healthy Living Foundation.

About Global Healthy Living Foundation

The Global Healthy Living Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people living with chronic illnesses by advocating for improved access to care at the community, state, and federal levels, and amplifying education and awareness efforts within its social media framework. The Global Healthy Living Foundation is the parent organization of CreakyJoints, the go-to source for more than 100,000 arthritis patients and their families world-wide who are seeking education, support, advocacy and patient-centered research, and the recently launched ArthritisPower, the first ever patient-led, patient-centered research registry for arthritis, bone, and inflammatory skin conditions.