CONCORD — Leah Stagnone, a resident of Litchfield and graduate of St. Anselm College, plans a lifetime of advocacy work on behalf of people with disabilities as they strive to become part of a society that is inclusive and just for everyone.

Her mission could be considered a natural calling: Stagnone, just 25, is herself a member of that demographic, having lived for some time with “a handful of chronic conditions” that has given her an unwanted front-row seat to the wide range of difficulties faced by people of all ages when it comes to affording their prescription medications.

Not long ago, Stagnone told a virtual audience of fellow advocates, patients and healthcare professionals Tuesday morning, her doctor had prescribed a promising new

medication.

“I went to pick it up … I was really excited to try something new to help me,” Stagnone said. But when she reached the pharmacy counter, the excitement turned to disappointment: The medication came with a monthly co-pay somewhere between $500 and $700.

So Stagnone did what way too many other people are forced to do every day: “I had to say, ‘I can’t get it right now.'”

It’s the personal stories such as Stagnone’s that have prompted New Hampshire Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan to renew her push to gain bipartisan support among her colleagues for legislation that would reduce health care costs for New Hampshire residents who rely on Medicare for drug benefits, by increasing competition and transparancy for drug companies that Hassan said “are setting exorbitant prices on their products.”

In 2019, Hassan, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, advanced legislation to lower prescription drug costs by putting in place a cap on out-of-pocket expenses for subscribers of Medicare Part D, the section of Medicare that deals with prescription medication.

Called the Affordable Medications Act, the legislation, which Hassan and other legislators are reintroducing, would also allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which is intended to “crack down on pharmaceutical companies that raise drug prices higher” than the rate of inflation, according to earlier statements.

“Nobody should have to make that decision,” Hassan said at the outset of Tuesday’s roughly 45-minute roundtable session. She referred to the thousands of mostly elderly Granite Staters who are forced to choose between paying for their medications, putting food on the table, even paying utility bills each month.

Dealing with the big drug companies “is like a David and Goliath battle,” said roundtable participant Heather Carroll, the advocacy director for the N.H. Alliance for Healthy Aging.

“Seniors are having to make these difficult decisions … we often hear stories about older adults rationing their medications to make them last longer,” Carroll said, adding that the situation for many seniors got even worse as the pandemic settled in.

Also speaking Tuesday was Jay Gupta, the Director of Pharmacy and Integrative Health at Nashua-based nonprofit agency Harbor Care, the former Harbor Homes Inc.

While drug companies must pay an excise tax for inflating drug prices, they also utilize a business model that flies in the face of typical business industry standards, Gupta said.

It’s not uncommon for drugs to be over prescribed, Gupta said, mainly because the drug industry “is designed to keep people dependant on the medications.

That, he said, leads to an increase in demand — but unlike other types of businesses, “the cost of the drugs goes higher,” a scenario that makes the drug industry the only one that goes against industry standards, Gupta added.

He touched upon another, rather unusual approach to save money on drug costs: “Ask your provider to ‘desubscribe’ you, and take better care of yourself,” he said. “There’s so much more we can do to keep ourselves healthy … invest in yourself, you are worth it,” he said.

Beverly Cotton, a cancer survivor from Weare who became an advocate for fellow patients and a hospital and hospice volunteer, has had many conversations with many patients over the years.

“I’ve heard a lot of stories, many of them sad stories, about their inability of afford their medications,” Cotton said Tuesday, referring to patients and their families.

“There’s no age bias, race bias, it affects everyone,” she said of the often financilly crippling drug costs.

She recalled an older woman, a New Hampshire “Yankee,” who began having difficulty paying her household expenses due to the high cost of her meds.

Averse to the idea of asking her family for help, the woman decided to ration her blood pressure medication, Cotton said.

What she didn’t realize was her blood pressure increased until it reached a dangerous point. “She had a devastating stroke, was (admitted to) a facility … she’ll never be able to go home,” Cotton said.

A middle-aged man Cotton met while volunteering shared his lung cancer journey with her. “He told me he had surgery that prolonged his recovery … and he needed monthly infusions,” she said.

The man “exhausted his COBRA (short-term insurance) … went through his retirement savings and unfortunately, he ran out of money,” Cotton said.

“He missed a couple of infusions, and has since died.

“His life was reduced to dollars and cents,” she said. “That’s not who we are. We can do better than that.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.