Are you a Buckeye with diabetes? Prepare to be dumped on -- or move to one of the other 46 states!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Columbus Dispatch
Imagine that, like many others, you're diagnosed with diabetes. You ask your doctor whether there is a cure. What is the next step? The doctor refers you to a professional to help you manage your changed lifestyle and inform you of the consequences of not embracing these changes.
You immediately call to make an appointment to see the specialist, only to find out that your insurance doesn't cover the $400 cost of the vital visit.
You know you need to go, so you find the money to pay for the visit. The specialist now tells you that you will need testing supplies and equipment to monitor your condition.
Right away you go to the pharmacy to pick up your prescription to learn that it is not covered either.
The Diabetes Cost Reduction Act would make it mandatory for diabetes to be covered on state-regulated health insurance.
Ohio is one of only four states that has yet to pass this bill despite the classification of diabetes as an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 20.8 million Americans are living with diabetes, including 1 million Ohioans.
On March 6, for the first time in 17 years, the state's top executive, Gov. Ted Strickland, endorsed the passage of the Ohio Diabetes Cost Reduction Act. Unfortunately, when the bill got to the Senate, it was turned down by the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee, led by Sen. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington.
I encourage the 380,000 people affected by this legislation to become involved in the passing of this important law. Call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES to prevent Ohio from becoming the last state without this vital insurance regulation.
Executive director,
posted by Kathie Bracy at 9:07 PM
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