Deborah Hutchings

Testimony on HB1638 – Reforming Step Therapy Protocols Commerce Committee Hearing Date: February 17, 2026 Bill: HB1638 – Reforming Step Therapy Protocols Testimony of Deborah Hutchings Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide my testimony today. I am here because step therapy delays would have cost me my life. My name is Deborah Hutchings. I am a New Hampshire resident and a breast cancer survivor. My treatment included six months of chemotherapy, five weeks of radiation, a double mastectomy, and countless scans. My care team spanned Elliott Hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock, and Catholic Medical Center. I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in July 2021—two tumors in my right breast, already spreading to my lymph nodes. The speed of my treatment was the reason I survived. Within four weeks of diagnosis, I began chemotherapy. After completing six months of treatment, I immediately underwent a double mastectomy, followed by radiation. On March 9, 2022, my surgeon told me I was cancer free. I want you to consider how different my outcome might have been if step therapy protocols had been imposed. Any delay—any requirement to “try and fail” a less effective treatment—would have given my cancer time to spread further. For patients with aggressive disease, delays are not an inconvenience. They are life-threatening. Step therapy, also known as “fail first,” requires patients to try a lower-cost medication or treatment before the one their physician recommends. Only after that treatment fails will the insurer approve the clinically appropriate option. This process shifts medical decision-making away from physicians and burdens both patients and providers with unnecessary delays. If you were facing a life-threatening cancer, would you want to waste precious time trying treatments chosen by an insurance company to save money—or would you want to follow the plan recommended by the medical professionals you trust with your life? More than 30 states have already enacted versions of the Safe Step Act to ensure that step therapy protocols include reasonable, medically sound exceptions. HB1638 would bring those same protections to New Hampshire. I am alive today because my treatment was aggressive, timely, and clinically proven. I urge you to pass HB1638 so that every patient in our state can access the right treatment at the right time—without dangerous and unnecessary delays. Thank you for your time and for your commitment to the health of New Hampshire residents.