THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2021 Page 17 Health Care For All releases new report on struggles with affording health care H ealth Care For All is releasing two briefs on survey results conducted by the Altarum Healthcare Value Hub that outline how unaff ordable care is driving health inequities in Massachusetts during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. While consumer concerns over health care costs have been documented, these surveys off er a more in-depth look at how these concerns impact residents in Massachusetts – despite high rates of insurance coverage. “Massachusetts families have been drowning in health care costs for far too long, and COVID-19 has pulled back the curtain and revealed the challenges that have long existed in our health care system,” said Health Care for All Executive Director Amy Rosenthal. “The survey shows how widespread the aff ordability crisis is in Massachusetts and the disproportionate impact it has on People of Color and low-income residents. These results should spur legislators into action to deliver families the relief they so urgently need. We must pass the More Aff ordable Care Act and prescription drug cost reform this session.” The survey results paint a troubling picture for the state of health care aff ordability in Massachusetts. Some key fi ndings include: • Fifty-one percent experienced healthcare aff ordability burdens, such as forgoing care. • Seventy-four percent are worried about aff ording health care in the future. • Fifty-one percent are worried about aff ording treatment for COVID-19 if they need it. • Forty-seven percent are worried about affording the cost of prescription drugs. “I had to retire when I got sick, and now have to purchase insurance on my own, with premiums that are hundreds of dollars a month, and about to jump even higher,” said Floyd Elam, a Dorchester resident who called Health Care For All’s HelpLine. “On top of that, I have high blood pressure and the copays for my prescription are going from $25 a month to $50. At that rate, I don’t even know if I can aff ord to keep taking the medication.” The survey also highlighted the racial, ethnic, economic and geographic inequities of health care aff ordability in the state. Concerns about health care aff ordability and prescription drug costs were highest among Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino residents, people with household incomes of less than $100,000 per year and people living in the Boston region. Specifi c fi ndings include: • Seventy-five percent of Black/African American adults and 68% of Hispanic/Latino adults reported facing aff ordability burdens, compared with 46% of white adults. • Sixty-one percent of families making less than $50,000 per year experienced aff ordability burdens, which is higher than in any other income group. • Thirty-six percent of Black/ African American respondents and 33% of Hispanic/Latino respondents reported not fi lling a prescription, cutting pills in half or skipping a dose of medicine, compared to 19% of white respondents. “Since the average income of families of color is signifi cantly lower than that of White families, higher prescription drug prices contribute to the health care disparities between the two communities,” said NAACP, New England Area Conference President Juan Cofi eld. “Lowering prescription drug prices will reduce these health care disparities between the two communities. Accordingly, the NAACP, New England Area Conference is proud to support H.729 and S.771.” “For the physician community, the high and continually rising cost of prescription drugs undermines our ability to provide the best clinical care possible and directly impacts the health of our patients,” said Massachusetts Medical Society Past President Dr. Ronald Dunlap. “The disproportionate impact drug aff ordability has on communities of color and the related exacerbation of disparate health outcomes is unconscionable. Our patients deserve the opportunity to obtain the highest attainable standard of health, with aff ordable high quality care, including prescription drugs, which are critical for optimal health. For our patients, we urge the legislature to pass H.729/S.771.” The survey also found that Massachusetts residents have a strong desire for government action on health care costs across party lines. Bills currently before the state legislature that could address the concerns raised in the survey include An Act to ensure more aff ordable care or the MAC Act (H.1247/S.782), An Act to ensure prescription drug cost transparency and aff ordability (H.729) and An Act relative to pharmaceutical access, costs and transparency (S.771). “These survey briefs show that far too many Massachusetts residents are burdened by unaff ordable health care,” said State Senator John Keenan, who is a lead sponsor of the MAC Act. “The MAC Act will address these concerns by reforming the rate review process to enhance transparency and protect consumers from excessive health insurance premium hikes. It will also implement a reinsurance program to lower premiums for individuals and small businesses. We can’t wait any longer to deliver Massachusetts residents the relief they need.” “No one should ever have to make the decision between paying for health care or putting food on their table, and the survey released today clearly shows it is disproportionately Black and Latinx residents that face impossible choices because of unaff ordable care,” said State Representative Christine Barber, who is a lead sponsor of the MAC Act and An Act to ensure prescription drug cost transparency and aff ordability. “The MAC Act will help address longstanding racial disparities in health care access by eliminating co-pays for certain treatments for chronic conditions that are more likely to impact low-income communities and communities of color. It will also establish a consumer benchmark to rein in the rising costs of premiums, deductibles and copays.” “We need to act now to improve access to affordable medications for all,” said State Senator Cindy Friedman, who is a lead sponsor of An Act relative to pharmaceutical access, costs and transparency and Senate Chair of the Legislature’s Health Care Financing Committee. “This legislation will implement cost assistance programs to improve affordability for some medications used to treat chronic conditions that disproportionately impact people of color and are also COVID-19 risk factors and empower the Health Policy Commission to hold manufacturers accountable for unreasonable or excessive prices. By reining in prescription drug costs and increasing transparency and oversight within the pharmaceutical industry, we can drive down costs within our healthcare system and improve patients’ ability to access HEALTH | SEE PAGE 24
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