Legislation Supported by Addabbo Would Address Consumer Concerns About New York's E-Prescribing "I-STOP" Law

Howard Beach, NY (July 22, 2016) In an effort to assist prescription drug customers who have faced a number of difficulties under one aspect of New York’s broad “I-STOP” law, which requires all prescriptions to be provided electronically as of this past March 27, Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. supported two pieces of legislation during the 2016 session to ensure that e-prescriptions are filled promptly and that consumers have greater opportunities to shop around for the lowest medicine prices. 

“E-prescribing has been very common for many of us for a long time, but I did hear from a number of constituents who expressed their concerns when paper prescriptions were ended this past spring,” said Addabbo. “With prescription drug prices already so high, it makes sense to amend existing law to give residents a chance to find the least expensive medications and to help ensure that those in need don’t forego their medicine out of an inability to pay for them.  Together, these two bills, if signed into law by the Governor, will help restore the ability of consumers to comparison shop for the best pharmacy prices and will also make sure that patients receive the medication they need, with delays, when they need them.”

 “New York’s I-STOP law, a comprehensive piece of legislation approved several years ago, was enacted with the best of intentions – cutting down on stolen or fraudulent prescriptions, combating prescription narcotics addictions and otherwise saving lives that are being lost to opioid medication abuse,” said Addabbo, noting that both bills passed the Senate and Assembly and will now be reviewed by the Governor. “However, moving to a purely electronic prescribing system and completely doing away with hard paper prescriptions gave rise to a number of problems for consumers that we have been attempting to resolve since the e-prescribing aspect of the I-STOP law went into effect in March.”   

One piece of legislation (S.7537) would enable a pharmacist who receives an e-prescription and is not immediately able to provide the medicine to send the request electronically to another pharmacy with the patient’s permission. Under current law, if a prescription cannot be filled in a timely fashion, patients must return to their health care providers to request that the prescription be sent to a different pharmacist.   

The second bill (S.7334) would enable physicians and other health care providers prescribing medications to send the prescriptions electronically to a secure site where they can be downloaded by pharmacists expressly chosen by the patients to fill them. Providing this centralized location for e-prescriptions would help to restore opportunities for patients to comparison shop for the most affordable drug prices. Under current law, patients must choose a pharmacy while they are still at the prescriber’s office, which does not afford them the ability to research the lowest costs among area pharmacies before having their prescriptions filled.