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Many HMOs Allegedly Deny Access To Necessary Medicine

May 19, 2008

An investigation by state lawmakers released Sunday found that HMOs may be doing a disservice to patients.

State Senators Jeff Klein, Tom Duane and John Sabini analyzed 19 of New York’s major HMOs, and found that 14 of them deny or restrict access to medications which do not have a generic equivalent.

They also said many of those drugs are used to treat conditions that affect higher percentages of blacks and Hispanics as compared to whites, such as heart disease and diabetes.

“The most expensive drugs for the most critical of illnesses are made prohibitively expensive on co-pays and this is just another example on how hard it is to fight to ensure people — no matter what they come from, no matter what language they speak, no matter what they look like — have the same access to healthcare as everyone else,” said Sabini.

“They’ve created this system of all these exceptions which not only makes taking these drugs a lot more expensive but also creates a very complicated system,” said Klein.

Oxford is rated worst in the survey, followed by Aetna, Health Net and Independent Health Association.

The senators are proposing legislation that would require insurance companies to cover all necessary medications approved by the FDA.

Source: NY1

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Written by NY Politics · Filed Under Health 

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