House Passes Step Therapy, Rodenticide, & Holyoke Soldiers' Home Bills

BROOKLINE, MA — On Wednesday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed three bills, H.4929, An Act relative to step therapy and patient safety, H.4931, An Act relative to pesticides, and H.4932, a supplemental budget funding the Holyoke Soldiers' Home settlement.

H.4929 requires insurers to provide a process for patients and their healthcare providers to request an exemption from step therapy protocols. Step Therapy, also known as “fail first,” is an insurance policy that requires a patient to try preferred treatments before receiving approval to try a different treatment.

Under the new legislature, patients can receive an exemption if the required treatment will harm the patient, is expected to be ineffective, if the patient has already tried the required treatment, or if the patient is stable on a current treatment.

“This week we took important steps to ensure that patients and their doctors have more discretion in what drugs are prescribed,” Brookline Rep. Tommy Vitolo said in a statement.

“This is a great bill for patients,” said Watertown Rep. John Lawn (D-Watertown), Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing Committee. “Under the leadership of Speaker Mariano and in collaboration with my House colleagues, patient advocates, and insurers, this legislation balances the need to manage utilization and control costs of expensive treatments with the moral imperative to protect patients who need life-saving treatments. Thanks to this bill, patients will get the right drug at the right time without delay.”

The House also passed H.4931, which seeks to reduce and monitor the use of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs), a toxic group of poisons that cause death of rodents and other wildlife populations.

Licensed and certified pesticide applicators and dealers will now be required to submit annual pesticide usage forms digitally.

"I am glad that we have found a way to protect Massachusetts wildlife while also managing the rodent population,” Vitolo said. "I am grateful to House leadership for advancing both of these important bills before the end of this legislative session.”

"We are grateful to the House for passing H.4931” Melissa Ekvall, Senior Advocacy Outreach and Research Coordinator at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA),” said in a statement. "This bill will help us better monitor and reduce the use of rodenticides throughout the Commonwealth, protecting our pets and local wildlife. We look forward to our continued work with our vast coalition as this bill now moves to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.”

The bill also encourages the use of integrated pest management systems, like sealing trash, sealing foundation, and removing nesting materials, to address rodent problems. The Town of Brookline has recently urged residents to take these steps to reduce the presence of rodents locally.

“Our department works hard to minimize the presence of rats in town as much as possible, especially through the summer months,” Brookline Public Health Commissioner Sigalle Reiss said in a statement. “All those in Brookline have a responsibility to help keep the town clean as well, and we urge those who live and work here to aid in our efforts to prevent rodents. These measures will be most effective through a community-wide effort.”

The Massachusetts House of Representatives also passed H.4932, which directs $56 million to the victims of the COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home.

The bills now goes to the Senate before reaching the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.