Meghan Moyer has chronic hives, urticaria. It’s not life threatening. It can be very uncomfortable.

The treatment that worked for her cost $3,000 a month. She could not afford it. She spread out her treatment. It didn’t keep her flare up under control.

A nurse told her about the drug manufacturer’s patient assistance program. Such programs help patients pay for expensive drugs. She could afford her treatment.

But her insurer has a policy that limits copay assistance programs. Many insurers and pharmacy benefit managers have policies that don’t allow a consumer to use a discount or other financial assistance to count toward the patient’s deductible. The patient has to keep paying even though somebody else already paid.

It has to be one of the cruelest aspects of the financial Darwinism that presides in health care.

Moyer fears she will get another flare up and not be able to afford the treatment.

“My fear is pretty severe discomfort,” she told an Oregon legislative committee on Wednesday. “But I won’t lose my life.”

Other Oregonians do need prescription drugs to manage chronic conditions to live. Limits on co-pay assistance mean they can’t afford their drugs. Garrett Banton of Bend got a back bill for more than $12,000 because of a copay limit. He didn’t have the money. He went off his medication and his autoimmune disorder worsened.

State Rep. Emerson Levy, a D-Bend, has sponsored House Bill 4113 that would prohibit such copay limiters. State Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, has also signed on to the bill as sponsor. The bill had its first hearing Wednesday.

There are 19 states that already prohibit them. Republican Oregon Reps. Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, have supported bills in Congress to prohibit them across the country.

Insurers and pharmacy benefit managers have argued that drug manufacturers use their assistance programs to lock patients into higher priced brand name drugs. Levy’s bill, though, does make allowances if a drug has a cheaper generic equivalent.

Representatives from insurers have also called on the Oregon Legislature to wait for the regulations to sort out at the federal level.

Wait while Oregonians suffer today? That doesn’t sound right.

There are other aspects of health insurance and prescription drugs that need addressing. But legislators should pass House Bill 4113.