[Ohio-Talk] I am done

[Barbara Pierce]

I just finished writing to all fifteen members of the Insurance committee. Here is the message I used:

  Every day thousands of blind Ohioans struggle to meet their healthcare needs or those of family members for whom they are providing health care because they cannot read the instructions on their prescription medications. This means that blind Ohioans run the risk of harming their health or even killing themselves or their loved ones by taking medication incorrectly, storing it incorrectly, or even taking or administering the wrong medication. 


Despite there being easy and inexpensive solutions to making prescription labels 100% accessible to the blind, most Ohio pharmacies continue to refuse to implement these solutions for their blind customers. At the request of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Ohio, Representative Richard Brown introduced H.B. 448, which would require that all Ohio pharmacies offer accessible prescription labeling to their blind customers. Passage of H.B. 448 would ensure that blind Ohioans have safe and independent access to the prescription medications they need to maintain good health or care for others.

 

H.B. 448 is currently assigned to the Ohio House Insurance Committee. However, the Committee has yet to hear H.B. 448. It was scheduled for Sponsorship testimony at the December 8, 2021, House Insurance Committee meeting, but that hearing was canceled. The Committee has met twice since December 8, but H.B. 448 has not been placed back on the agenda. H.B. 448 must pass this legislative session to protect the health, safety, and lives of blind Ohioans. In fact, every day the Ohio legislature delays in passing H.B. 448 endangers the lives of blind Ohioans. That is why I am writing today to call on the House Insurance Committee to begin hearings on H.B. 448 immediately and pass the bill out to the full house at the Committee’s earliest opportunity.

 

Barbara Pierce (she, her, hers)
President Emerita
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
Barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com
440-774-8077
 

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise expectations for blind people because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and their dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.