Common-sense health care reform
Idon't consider myself a 16-year-old with a disability. I just have a challenge to my abilities.
At age 9, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease in which the tissue in my joints are attacked by my own body. I also developed fibromyalgia, which is when the brain amplifies sensations of pain. Muscle disease and ankylosing spondylitis came a few years later. In January, doctors found a brain cyst that I have had since birth.
I live with pain every day, but I don't let it stop me. I'm finding ways to manage it.
Ideally, this involves me and my parents consulting with my doctors at OU Children's Hospital and determining a treatment plan tailored for me, based on my medical team's training and clinical experience.
But imagine if they weren't allowed to give me what I needed. Imagine if they believed a certain medication would make progress against my symptoms, but were forced to prescribe something different.
Unfortunately, that's not an imaginary situation. It is reality. Insurance companies have required that patients go through numerous “steps” by trying and failing on alternative treatments before being allowed to take the drug originally prescribed. This practice is called “step therapy,” and it isn't very therapeutic at all.
At 9, I was put on a weekly shot that left me riddled with pain and confined to
a wheelchair several days a week. I had to fight pain to function every day. It took away my ability to play violin in school. It also took away countless hours of fun in school and other activities I enjoyed.
Step therapy dragged my treatment out and put me in severe pain for too long.
It seems crazy that insurance companies — not trained health care providers — were able to dictate patient treatments.
Fortunately for me and other Oklahomans with chronic diseases, step therapy reform was passed unanimously by the Legislature this year. This bill will make it easier for people like me to more quickly get necessary treatments to manage our symptoms and lives. For me, that means following my parents' example of working hard — not just in my academics, but also in activities like Air Force JROTC, Civil Air Patrol, Girl Scouts, and the Junior Ambassador Arthritis Foundation.
This year, I visited the Capitol twice to meet lawmakers and tell them my story. I learned it is important to use my voice to advocate for myself and others. I am grateful they listened. Sen. Dave Rader and Reps. Cyndi Munson and Jon Echols worked in a bipartisan way to do what's right for Oklahomans. I will be proud to stand in Gov. Kevin Stitt's office July 30 for the ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 509.