Today, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation released the following statement in response to the reintroduction of the Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act (H.R. 830):

Transformative therapies — such as CFTR modulators — have been paramount in shifting what it means to live with cystic fibrosis. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation recognizes the challenges insurers face in managing the rising cost of drugs often associated with these life-changing therapies. However, cost containment strategies instituted by insurers, such as accumulator and maximizer programs, or the decision not to cover a high-priced medication altogether, unfairly place patients in the middle of a fight that belongs between insurers, manufacturers, and pharmacy benefit managers.

The Foundation applauds the reintroduction of the HELP Copays Act — bipartisan legislation that helps patients access necessary prescription drugs by potentially reducing the financial burden that results from complex and hard-to-navigate health insurance plans.

Living with a rare disease such as cystic fibrosis is costly enough. Adding complex and unwieldy complications to health insurance plans exacerbates an already unimaginable reality of financial constraint that could result in irreparable harm to patients and families. While a short-term fix to a systemic issue, the HELP Copays Act will protect patients and their families from having to sacrifice their health when they cannot afford necessary, life-changing prescription drugs.

We thank Representatives Carter, Barragán, Clarke, Coleman, DeGette, Fitzpatrick, and Miller-Meeks for championing this legislation and urge Congress to move quickly to pass the bill, bringing us closer to a more sustainable — and fair — health care system.