Aslynn Romano

I am a psychiatric nurse practitioner who has worked in psych nursing for over a decade, and too many times my patients have to go without the medication best suited for their condition. Patients often have to cope with unpleasant side effects or a reduction in effectiveness when out of pocket costs for the ideal medication are too much to bare. Their psychiatric condition suffers when we have to settle for the runner up (or even third line) solution. Also - when my patients can't afford their medications for their physical conditions, be they chronic or acute medical issues, their mental health also suffers in a way that psychiatric treatment cannot address. The crisis of high cost medications has innumerable negative downstream effects to our community, our economy, and our own personal lives. There are some options for savings on drug costs, but they don't go far enough. Most coupon discount programs from the drug manufacturers exclude medicare & medicaid plans. Most of those same programs require insurance to cover the medication to some degree. GoodRx can provide savings that may help, but patients have to pay fees to get the most out of that program. Having a statewide program that all residents can access fills a massive gap in care and keeps our community healthy & safe. Also: Buying medications online from pharmacies from other countries is a VERY dangerous thing to do. And yet, people do it all the time because they can't access the care they need. And the consequences can be EXTREME when the medication is fake or otherwise isn't safe for consumption. (Please note, I am talking about online orders, not legitimate pharmacies when traveling or living abroad.) Patients are desperate and they think because they're ordering a medication they've taken before that it won't hurt them. And that can be a fatal mistake. It's pretty simple: Allowing residents of NH access to affordable medications will improve the mental and physical health of our community. Please support this bill. Thank you.