By Paula Noonan – Colorado Politics
Mental and behavioral health and drug care have several bills. Step therapy is a practice related to medical and mental health prescriptions when Medicaid or insurance companies require physicians to prescribe less expensive alternatives to high cost drugs to see if the inexpensive drugs will work. HB23-1130, “Drug coverage for serious mental illness,” limits the “steps” to one drug alternative before the requested drug is required. The purpose is to reduce mental health crises for serious mental disease such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, etc. Mental health associations, medical providers, and the Colorado BioScience Association support the bill. The Colorado Association of Health Plans, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, and the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association want to amend the bill.