Tag Archives: arthritis illinois

Advocate for Arthritis August Recess

Arthritis Advocates Meet with Members of Congress During August Recess: Push for Support of the Ensuring Access to Children’s Specialty Care Act

Every summer Congress takes a break and each member of Congress departs Washington, D.C. for their home district. This break dates back to a time when most members of Congress had other responsibilities back home, most notably returning to their farms for harvest. The break, often referred to as August Recess, has evolved into an opportunity for the members to head home and meet with their constituents.
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Arthritis Step Therapy Illinois

Victory in Illinois! Bill to Curb Step Therapy Signed into Law by Governor Bruce Rauner!

Imagine going to your healthcare provider and being told that your medication is no longer covered by your insurance. Kim and Gary Kitowski, of Columbia, IL, have faced that reality more than once. Kim, an Arthritis Foundation Ambassador, has lived with arthritis for more than 30 years and her husband, Gary, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eight years ago. Because of step therapy, both have fought for access to medications that were prescribed by their doctors.
Continue reading Victory in Illinois! Bill to Curb Step Therapy Signed into Law by Governor Bruce Rauner!

Arthritis Advocacy in Illinois

Advocates in Illinois Get a Big Win for Biosimilars

Illinois SB 455Thanks in large part to the many letters, calls and visits made by Arthritis Foundation Advocates in Illinois, on July 30, Gov. Bruce Rauner (R – IL) signed Senate Bill 455 into law.

The law creates a pathway for the introduction and use of biosimilars into the mainstream marketplace. Biosimilar medications have the potential to provide safe and effective treatment to people with arthritis at a potentially lower cost than name-brand biologic medications.

Biologics are carefully engineered, and they can never truly be duplicated. This means that even biosimilars deemed interchangeable are not generic replicas of original biologics. Nationwide, states are now enacting legislation to create a pathway for biosimilars because current laws on generic substitution do not have jurisdiction on biosimilars.

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