In 2020, the North Carolina General Assembly passed Senate Bill 361, legislation signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper. The law was meant to streamline step therapy—a process whereby patients are required to try and fail on one or a series of medications before accessing the one recommended by their healthcare provider.
We’d like to hear from you! Has step therapy legislation in North Carolina been successful in controlling the problem? Give us your thoughts by completing a brief 5-minute survey. We encourage you to share the survey with others.
North Carolina lawmakers may need to do more to fix fail-first/step therapy, and your responses to this survey will help inform if the legislation has been successful in controlling the problem.
In certain situations, step therapy can have adverse effects on patients. For instance, if I am covered under my employer’s insurance plan and have been successfully using a medication for a year with established benefits. Later, if I switch employers and the new insurance plan mandates step therapy, I would be compelled to discontinue the medication. It underscores the importance of considering these scenarios when crafting relevant healthcare laws and policies.