Held over bill aims to help treatment of opioid use disorder

Jason Urbanczyk twice “survived the wait” for drugs to treat his addiction to opioids.

This first-hand experience drew him to advocate for a bill that would prohibit prior authorization and step therapy for any drug used in the treatment of opioid use disorder.

Sponsored by Rep. Anquam Mahamoud (DFL-Mpls), HF3444 was laid over Monday by the House Health Finance and Policy Committee.

Prior authorization is when health care providers must obtain advance approval from an insurer to cover certain medications or services. Step therapy is a type of prior authorization. It requires that a patient try a lower cost prescription drug before stepping up to a similar but more expensive drug. 

Under state law, at least one version of liquid methadone, a drug used for the treatment of opioid use disorder, must be available under Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare. The bill would expand this to prohibit prior authorization and step therapy for any class of drugs approved for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

The time many patients grappling with addiction must wait for prior authorization of a medication “looks like a death sentence disguised as paperwork,” said Urbanczyk, who now serves on the executive committee for Impact Minnesota.

“They write a prescription for a medication that can save your life and then you hear the words that kill your hope: ‘Your insurance company needs more proof. It’ll be a few days. Hang in there,’” he said. “Hang in there when your bones feel like they’re breaking from the inside, your skin feels like it’s going to crawl off your body, your brain is screaming for relief louder than any rational thought. Every second feels like punishment for trying to live.”