Husted joins bill to protect patients from high drug costs

“This bipartisan bill would help lower out-of-pocket costs, improve access to the medications patients need nd put more money back in Americans’ pockets.” WASHINGTON – Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) joined Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act. This bill would ensure patients keep copay assistance they receive from a patient assistance program that lowers their out of pocket cost. “My top priority since taking office has been making life easier and more affordable for Ohioans. The HELP Copays Act is a commonsense step toward that goal. Too many Americans are paying more for prescription medications because of unfair pricing practices. This bipartisan bill would help lower out-of-pocket costs, improve access to the medications patients need and put more money back in Americans’ pockets,” said Husted. “Patient assistance programs help Americans pay for specialty medications that treat chronic and rare conditions. Applying patient assistance toward deductibles and out-of-pocket costs has always been the law of the land. I urge my colleagues to pass the bipartisan, bicameral HELP Copays Act and cement this victory,” said Marshall. “Copay assistance programs are often the one thing standing between patients being able to afford their medication and having to go without it. Insurance companies and PBMs shouldn’t be able to extract additional profit by penalizing patients for using copay assistance programs. Virginia is one of a growing number of states that have already banned this practice – the HELP Copays Act would expand that progress to the whole country and lower drug costs for patients,” said Kaine. Many Americans with chronic illnesses struggle to afford their medications because of high deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs. To help, nonprofit organizations and drug manufacturers often provide copay assistance that lowers what patients have to pay at the pharmacy. However, some insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) do not count that assistance toward a patient’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. As a result, once the assistance runs out, patients can still be required to pay thousands of dollars before their insurance fully kicks in. The HELP Copays Act would require insurers and PBMs to count any copay assistance received on a patient’s behalf toward their deductible and out-of-pocket limit, helping ensure patients can continue to afford the medications they need. Specifically, the HELP Copays Act would: Clarify the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) definition of cost sharing to ensure payments made “by or on behalf of” patients count towards their deductible and/or out-of-pocket maximum, prohibiting “copay accumulator adjustor programs.” Clarify that the ACA’s annual out-of-pocket limit applies to all prescription drugs covered in a health plan, since all covered drugs would be defined as “essential,” prohibiting “copay maximizer programs.” This bill builds on Husted’s work to lower prescription drug prices for Americans. His bipartisan bill, the Streamlined Market Access and Reform for Therapeutics Over-the-Counter (SMART OTC) Act became law in November 2025. This law modernizes the Food and Drug Administration’s process for giving certain prescription drugs status as over-the-counter options. The full text of the bill is available here .