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Boston's Morning Newsletter
One step away? Mass. lawmakers move to reform prescribing practice
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
It's officially that time of year when local celebrities show off their best Halloween costumes. First up: the Boston Bruins as classic Nintendo characters.
In case you're wondering, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is still deciding on her Halloween costume. That was just one takeaway from her appearance yesterday on Radio Boston. Check out to the full interview, which ranged from the continuing work at "Mass. and Cass" to the city's police reform negotiations to doughnuts.
To the news:
Massachusetts lawmakers are quietly getting some long-awaited work done during informal sessions. On Monday, the House and Senate sent a bill to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk that would crack down on what's known as "step therapy." If passed, the bill would limit the cost containment practice in which health insurers can refuse to cover certain prescription drugs unless patients try cheaper treatments first. And as CommonWealth Magazine has reported, the Legislature has been slowly moving toward this moment for several years now. But it wasn't until last week that they worked out the final details.
- The specifics: Beginning next July, the bill would ban private insurers and MassHealth from using a step therapy protocol that requires a patient to take a medication deemed unlikely to be clinically effective for the prescribed purpose, based on clinical evidence. And it would allow patients to apply for an exemption from step therapy sequences whenever coverage is restricted.
- Patient advocates criticize "step therapy" as unnecessary and harmful — particularly when it gets in the way of doctors' judgment. But according to CommonWealth, local insurance trade groups argue the bill now on Baker's desk goes too far.
- It's unclear whose side Baker is on; he hasn't publicly taken a position. But he will likely get the final say on the issue, at least until a new governor take office in January. (Since the Legislature is in informal sessions, their usually veto-proof Democratic supermajority would not be able to override him right now.)
Last night, the Cambridge City Council voted to make their city the first community in Massachusetts to get rid of "parking minimums" in their zoning code. That means developers won't be required to set aside a certain number of parking spots in new apartment buildings.
- Supporters say the move could lead to lower rents by freeing up more space for housing. The Council also voted to allow people to rent out parking spaces they aren't using.
Take that, traffic cone vandals. MassDOT officials are planning to make the widened bike lanes on the Mass. Ave. bridge permanent this fall, meaning the cones will be replaced by painted lines and flex posts.
- Installation is slated to begin next month, as officials finalize the permanent configuration, which includes dedicated bus lanes on each end of the bridge. It also means the bridge will permanently be narrowed from two lanes in each direction to one.
- Check it out: You can view a rough draft of the design right here.
Could there be another teachers strike on the horizon? Unionized educators in South Hadley — who are in their second year without a contract — are meeting today to discuss the possibility of a strike.
- Though public sector strikes are illegal in Massachusetts, it would be the fourth teachers strike in Massachusetts just this year, following relatively brief stoppages in Brookline, Haverhill and Malden. Those three all eventually secured new contracts.
P.S. — It's not too late to check out the fall foliage in New England, but you'll want to do it by this weekend to do it — and head south. Foliage expert Jeff Folger told WBUR's Morning Edition that he recommends areas around Boston and coastal Massachusetts, though there will also still be some good colors as far west as the Pioneer Valley.
