Notebook Page 14, April 2016

Spring has finally made its way to Lansing and with that Lawmakers are making their way out of Lansing for their two week spring break. Some budgets have moved out of their subcommittees but the Health and Human Services budget still finds itself being tweaked. Let's take a look at what happened last month in Lansing.

The House and Senate continue to work on their respective budgets for the coming fiscal year. This year the House signaled a trimming of the Health and Human Service budget which houses the programs that ACS CAN continues to support. Chairman VerHeulen said that the budget would see a reduction from the the Governor proposed for the coming fiscal year. It is unclear right now what funding will be effect in this large budget, but it is expected that both the cancer and tobacco prevention programs could be in the cross hairs. We expect to know after the legislature returns from its two week break.

The Governor signed Senate Bill 150 in March. Senate Bill would allow for patient to sync their medication for a one fill date rather than having multiple fill dates and having multiple trips to the pharmacy. ACS CAN staff worked with the legislature and interested parties to help push the legislation over the finish line. The legislation was widely supported by both the House and Senate and the Governor signed the legislation. The changes will become effective by July 2016.

More importantly Lobby Day is coming up in Michigan on April 19th. We have a ton of interest this year, thanks to everyone that has promoted our day. As we approach the deadline for Lobby Day registration next week (April 5), we’d like everyone to follow up on any potential attendees you’ve already talked with and avoid inviting any new volunteers at the last minute.  We still have dozens of potential volunteers to follow-up with so please make that a priority in the next few days. April 5th is a solid deadline due to the amount of interest we have this year for lobby day.

After the registration deadline, all registered participants will be receiving an email about logistics, transportation, and our legislative issues.  We’ll be having a call for volunteers on April 14^th at 7pm to cover the topics that will be discussed at Lobby Day.  Staff can expect an email from me soon to discuss transportation and car-pooling from your areas. Thank you again for everyone that has promoted lobby day around Michigan.

If you have any questions about what is happening in Michigan and beyond please don't hesitate to contact Andrew (andrew.schepers@cancer.org) or Matt (matt.phelan@cancer.org). 

Notebook Page 12 February 2016

February signals the start of budget season in Michigan with the governor scheduled to present his budget to the Legislature on Wednesday, February 10 at 11:00 a.m. You can watch the hearing here.  

 In addition to the budget, there are several other issues we’ve been focused on.

Oral chemotherapy parity, or “fairness,” has finally started to see some action in the Senate. Last month, a coalition, including ACS CAN, worked with Senator Goeff Hansen to have Senate Bill 625 introduced and brought up for a hearing in the Senate Insurance Committee. Senate Bill 625 ensures that patients facing cancer won’t have to pay a higher price for chemotherapy taken orally, as opposed to intravenously. ACS CAN presented a letter to the committee, outlining the need for access to these critical treatment options for patients facing cancer. Our coalition hopes to have the legislation sent to the House before the start of summer recess.

The Senate Health Policy Committee took up House Bill 4812, which would provide regulations for the use of biosimilar medications in Michigan. These are drugs that are almost identical to an original product manufactured by a different company. But unlike generic drugs, they are not exact copies. We continue to support interchanging biosimilar drugs with prescribed medications, as long as the patient’s health care provider is notified.  Because biosimilars are somewhat different from the originally prescribed drug, it’s important to notify a prescribing physician of the switch. This legislation is expected to make it out of the Senate before summer recess. 

Medication synchronization is another issue that the House will take up later this month. Senate Bill 150 would allow patients schedule their medications to be filled on the same day.  This ensures that patients and their caregivers won’t be running back and forth to the pharmacy to constantly refill prescriptions.  The bill has moved from the Senate to the House for further consideration.

February is a busy month for ACS CAN in Michigan. For more information,  go to our website at http://www.acscan.org/action/mi.