[Ohio-Talk] URGENAT re HB 448

[Patricia McPherson]

E-mails completed, including a small personal story.
Pat McPherson

 



> On Feb 11, 2022, at 1:39 PM, Todd Elzey via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Good afternoon!  Yesterday I sent a message out asking everyone to send
> emails to the 15 members of the Hous Insurance Committee to get them to
> take up HB 448, our Accessible Prescription Labeling Bill.  This is of
> vital importance because if we do not get this bill through the Insurance
> Committee very soon we will not have enough time to get the legislation
> passed by both houses before the end of the 134th General Assembly on
> December 31, 2022.  If that happens, we will have to start all over from
> the beginning. This means that we would once again have to secure a sponsor
> and have the bill's language drafted by the Legislative Services Commission
> (LSC) before the bill could even be assigned to a committee in 2023. This
> year that process took 10 months. We know that this would significantly
> endanger Ohio's blind citizens because they would have to go another 1-2
> years without having guaranteed access to accessible prescription
> medications. So now is the time that we have to step forward as an
> organization and push the Insurance Committee hard to conduct hearings on
> H.B. 448 so that we can get this legislation passed by the Ohio House and
> into the Ohio Senate with the goal of the bill being passed by both houses
> and signed by the Governor before December 31st.
> 
> Let's not make blind Ohioans wait another 1-2 years to get access to
> accessible prescription labels. Let's push the Insurance Committee to hear
> H.B. 448 immediately. Unfortunately, this is not something that just I,
> President Payne, and Eric can accomplish by ourselves. Sometimes it takes
> the combined voices of hundreds, if not thousands, of voices to wake the
> legislature up and make them realize that an issue is important to Ohioans.
> So it is going to take all of us to get this bill through the Legislature
> this year. This is why we have come together as an organization - to use
> the power of our combined voices to change what it means to be blind in
> Ohio.
> 
> Yesterday I set a goal of getting 100 individuals to send emails to the
> insurance committee by the end of the week. As of the moment, I am typing
> this email I have received confirmation that 5 individuals have sent
> emails. That's 95 short of the goal and it's nowhere near enough to
> convince the committee to take up H.B. 448 immediately.
> 
> So if you are not one of those 5 people, I am asking that you drop whatever
> you are doing and immediately write those 15 emails to the House Insurance
> Committee. This is not something we can put off - we need to act today to
> preserve the health and safety of blind Ohioans.
> 
> Below is the contact information for the House Insurance Committee and the
> suggested email.  Please let me know when you have sent the emails so we
> can keep track of how many the Committee has received, and please let me
> know if you have any questions. And don't forget to include your personal
> stories in the email and your name and contact information so that the
> House Insurance Committee knows who the message is coming from.
> 
> House Insurance Committee:
> 
> Thomas E. Brinkman, Chair, rep27 at ohiohouse.gov
> Brian E. Lampton, Vice-Chair, rep73 at ohiohouse.gov
> Jessica E. Miranda, Ranking Member, rep28 at ohiohouse.gov
> Kristin Boggs, rep18 at ohiohouse.gov
> Rick Carfagna, rep68 at ohiohouse.gov
> Jon Cross, rep83 at ohiohouse.gov
> Bill Dean, rep74 at ohiohouse.gov
> Mark Fraizer, rep71 at ohiohouse.gov
> Dontavius L. Jarrells, rep25 at ohiohouse.gov
> Kris Jordan, rep67 at ohiohouse.gov
> Jeff LaRe, rep77 at ohiohouse.gov
> Thomas F. Patton, rep07 at ohiohouse.gov <rep7 at ohiohouse.gov>
> Jason Stephens, rep93 at ohiohouse.gov
> Bride Rose Sweeney, rep14 at ohiohouse.gov
> Terrence Upchurch, rep10 at ohiohouse.gov
> 
> Suggested email language:
> 
> SUBJECT:  HB 448 - Regards prescription drug readers for visually impaired
> patients
> 
> 
> 
> Every day thousands of Ohioans who are blind struggle with meeting their
> healthcare needs 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 by taking medication
> incorrectly, storing medication incorrectly, or even taking 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. H.B. 448 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.
> 
> 
> 
> H.B. 448 is currently assigned to the Ohio House Insurance Committee.
> However, the Committee has yet to hear H.B. 448. H.B. 448 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, 2021, 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 Ohia 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.
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/patrinkle%40icloud.com