[Ohio-Talk] URGENAT re HB 448

Sat Feb 12 19:44:28 UTC 2022

Emails sent.

William

On Fri, Feb 11, 2022, 8:35 PM Patricia McPherson via Ohio-Talk <
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> 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.
> > _______________________________________________
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