I have been involved with a Bill going through the Utah legislature right now. It's close to my heart and shouldn't be a polarizing issue. It's called HB 233. It basically deals with Amino Acid based formulas (ie Neocate which has nursed Hazel back to health since about a year ago when we found out about her severe food allergies and EE). It will mandate that insurance companies in Utah provide coverage for these formulas when children have certain medical needs for it. The financial burden is utterly overwhelming and coupled with the stress of having a child with these medical issues is downright devastating. Thankfully we have a number of friends and neighbors who have helped with our financial and emotional burdens associated with the costs. To give you an idea, a can of Neocate costs us $45 (through our insurance's home health department). Hazel drinks about one cans worth of formula each day. That's about $450 every 10 days and up to $1,350 each month. It is cheaper by the case direct from the company, but not by a lot. At this point, there is absolutely no coverage by most insurance companies in Utah (including ours). 14 other states currently provide insurance coverage.
I'm asking for help. I've been busy writing to legislators asking them to support this bill and help other families that might have to deal with this issue in the future. The bill has been prioritized and has been assigned to the House Health and Human Services Committee today. Then, yesterday afternoon it was put on the agenda for this coming Friday. (It's prioritized to first on the list!) It will then go through the process of being debated, amended and/or recommended and possibly released to the House floor for vote.
Here's where you come in. We need to write emails to the committee asking them to favorably recommend this bill.
Email Subject: HB 233 - Please Support with Favorable Recommendation
If any of these members are your representatives, change email subject to "HB 233 - I am your Constituent - Please Support"
Rep. Paul Ray, Chair pray@utah.gov
Rep. Evan J. Vickers, Vice Chair evickers@utah.gov
Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck rchouck@utah.gov
Rep. David Clark dclark@utah.gov
Rep. Tim M. Cosgrove tcosgrove@utah.gov
Rep. Bradley M. Daw bdaw@utah.gov
Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove rmenlove@utah.gov
Rep. Dean Sanpei dsanpei@utah.gov
Rep. Christine F. Watkins cwatkins@utah.gov
To find out if any of these legislators are your representative, click here.
Keep your email short and sweet. Just ask them to support the bill and explain how you know me and maybe how you have personally observed the financial stress or benefits of such a formula.
I really appreciate any help! Hopefully other families will never know the financial burden of having a child with Food Allergies or Eosinophilic disorders.
** A huge thanks to Tammy Zundel who has lead this effort to pass this bill! And Michelle Fogg who is just awesome!
Please leave a comment if you write - I'd like to thank each of my sweet friends that have already written emails. You are all too wonderful!
Love,
Ashley
ETA:
The sooner you write emails, the better! Feel free to pass this info on to your friends and family members to help. More is better!
4 comments:
I just sent my emails! Sadly, none of them are my reps. I sure hope it passes!
I sent emails last night. I hope it is not too late. Good luck!
I hope mine made it through in time too. None of the reps on the committee are mine, but unless I'm mistaken, there's no reason not to write them just because I'm not directly their constituent.
I just sent an email too- I hope it will help! Im glad I finally checked bloggs for the first time in months!
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