Safe Step Act

A male doctor with a stethoscope around his neck sits at a desk, smiling and talking to a patient wearing a striped shirt, in a bright medical office.

The Safe Step Act is bipartisan legislation in Congress that aims to protect patients from insurance company practices that delay or deny access to physician-prescribed treatments through “step therapy” or “fail first” protocols.

Step therapy protocols, also known as “fail first” requirements, force patients to try and fail on cheaper medications before insurers will approve the treatment their doctor originally prescribed. While ostensibly designed to control costs, these policies frequently cause harmful delays in effective care, leading to disease progression, preventable suffering, and sometimes permanent damage.

The bill:

Establishes a clear, transparent exceptions process (within 24-72 hours) for step therapy requirements, allowing doctors and patients to override insurance protocols when medically necessary.
Addresses unnecessary delays in effective treatment that can cause disease progression.
Helps prevent irreversible damage from being forced to try ineffective medications first.
Protects patients with chronic and serious illnesses from avoidable suffering.
Supports both patient care and long-term cost reduction by enabling timely, appropriate treatment.

This legislation has earned bipartisan support because it addresses a problem affecting patients across the political spectrum by creating appropriate safeguards to prevent insurance protocols from overriding medical expertise.

Join us in our advocacy in support of this bill by reaching out to your lawmaker today!