Chronic Migraine Awareness

Written by Kristi Estep for Chronic Migraine Awareness, Inc.

Last week I and two other advocates were invited to attend an Advocacy Day with The Global Healthy Living Foundation at the Ohio Statehouse. We were all highlighting our specific chronic diseases and what the copay accumulator legislation means to our specific communities. We were accompanied by Corey Greenblatt, MPH / Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy and JP Summers Patient Advocate, Community Outreach Manager, both from The Global Healthy Living Foundation. 

House Bill 177 was just reintroduced on the floor in the past couple of weeks, so meeting with patients such as us was great timing. We met with four different constituents staff members and shared our stories and why this bill is important for our chronic communities. The offices that we met with were District 14 Terry Johnson, Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, District 38 Willis Blackshear Jr, and District 57 Jamie Callender. All offices listened intently to our stories and why the bill is so important to the chronic disease community, we received favorable responses from the staffers who stated that they would pass all our information on to the legislators.

What will House Bill 177 do? It will prohibit certain health insurance cost-sharing practices. “This amendment will expand what types of costs must be counted towards an insured patient’s out-of-pocket maximum amount by including any cost-sharing amount paid by the enrollee and on behalf of the enrollee by another person, group, or organization.” (Cited from the handout provided by The Global Healthy Living Foundation) This amendment is necessary because “The costs of health care can quickly become overwhelming, especially for patients who have chronic illnesses like asthma, diabetes, HIV, arthritis, and hemophilia to name a few. By expanding what costs can be counted towards a patient’s out-of-pocket maximum, the costs of necessary medications and treatments will become less of a burden on insured patients as they are able to meet these maximums and access the full benefits of their policy quicker. Legislation is needed because insurance and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) instituted accumulator and maximizer programs have shifted the burden of paying for expensive, brand-name drugs – often used by the chronic disease community – to individual patients.” (Cited from the handout provided by The Global Healthy Living Foundation).

It was truly my honor to be able to share my story of Chronic Intractable Migraine with these legislators. Also sharing with them that I am not the exception but am one of many people living with chronic migraine, in Ohio and around the United States, whom this legislation effects.

For more information about the Copay Accumulator Legislation, visit

https://www.ghif.org/copay-assistance-protection