News & Advocacy
OAR President Featured in Report on Harmful Payer Practices
posted: June 16, 2021
In a substantive Columbus Dispatch investigation published over several days in mid-June, reporter Darrel Rowland shed light on payer practices that limit access to medically necessary treatments. As part of his research, Mr. Rowland interviewed OAR President Stephanie Ott, MD (Lancaster, OH). Dr. Ott spoke passionately about non-medical switching, a practice that Ohio legislators may soon prohibit (HB 153), if patients and providers make their voices heard.
In a June 14th article, Dr. Ott described an unpleasant peer-to-peer conversation that “illustrates the problem of PBMs and insurers essentially replacing the role of doctors in deciding what medications their patients should receive...”
In a compelling conclusion to the story, Dr. Ott is quoted as saying, “...I don’t get to practice medicine, because these insurers tell me how long I can spend with a patient, how much time I can have in a room, what tests they’ll pay for, and then what medicines I can use.”