SPRINGFIELD (WAND News) – A bill filed in Springfield would allow doctors to prescribe some HIV medication without needing prior authorization.
Prior authorization is when doctors need the approval of insurance companies before they can prescribe drugs. The American Medical Association says insurance companies use prior authorization to save money.
The plan would allow doctors to prescribe some drugs that have been shown to reduce deaths from HIV. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) said she doesn’t want to return to the deadliest days of the disease.
“My experience in the eighties I became somebody who has been to as many funerals as most peoples grandparents have at this point,” Cassidy said. “I don’t want to go back there. I want us to go to zero and we can.”
Some Republicans in the committee were opposed to the proposal, saying prior authorization is there for a reason.
“At the front end we’re saying here we’re going to give you this stuff to engage in risky behaviour,” State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore). “I’m not saying that’s everybody, but we’re giving a preventative without prior authorization and I think that’s a slippery slope.”
The bill passed out of the House insurance committee with a 13-3-1 vote with two Republican lawmakers voting yes. It now heads to the House floor were lawmakers could talk about it in the coming weeks.
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