Gastroenterologist Vaibhav Wadhwa, MD, met with an associate of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz,D-Fla., to discuss step therapy reform.
The key details to know:
1. Ms. Wasserman Schultz supports the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Screening Act and funding the National Institutes of Health. However, she is not currently a co-sponsor of the Restoring the Patient's Voice Act, which establishes a timely appeals process for step therapy.
2. Dr. Wadhwa, who is a Cleveland Clinic Florida fellow and state leader for the American Gastroenterological Association Congressional Advocates Program, shared patient stories with Laurie Flink, who is Rep. Wasserman Schultz's deputy district director. They discussed the barriers step therapy creates for patients seeking treatment for chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease.
3. Ms. Flink said she would discuss co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. Wasserman Schultz.