Tell Congress: Stop Insurers From Stealing Copay Assistance

Insurance companies found a new way to make sick people pay more: take the help meant for patients, then pretend it never existed.

Patients rely on copay assistance to afford medications that can cost thousands of dollars a month. But insurers are using “copay accumulator” programs to take that money, refuse to count it toward deductibles, and then force patients to pay again.

Congress already has a fix on the table. The HELP Copays Act would make insurers count copay assistance toward what patients owe. But lawmakers need to feel public pressure to actually pass it before more families are forced to drain their savings, delay care, or go without medicine.

Tell Congress: Stop insurers from pocketing patient assistance and pass the HELP Copays Act now.

This is a cruel shell game. The insurer gets paid. The patient still gets stuck with the bill.

For patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, HIV, diabetes, and other serious conditions, this can mean choosing between medicine, rent, and groceries. Assistance that should help them stay on treatment is being turned into another profit stream for insurance companies.

Some states have already banned or restricted this abuse, but millions of people are still unprotected because federal law has not caught up. Whether a patient gets real help should not depend on where they live or what kind of insurance card they carry.

No insurance company should be allowed to steal relief meant for a sick patient.

Add your name now to demand Congress stop this abuse and make copay assistance count for the people it was meant to help.

The petition to Congress reads:

“Pass the HELP Copays Act or equivalent federal legislation requiring insurers and health plans to count all copay assistance toward patients’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. Stop insurers from pocketing money meant to help patients afford their medications.”