Bill sponsored by Sen. David Frockt signed into law by Gov. Inslee

Gov. Jay Inslee signs Sen. David Frockt's bill into law

A bill co-sponsored by Democratic 46th District Sen. David Frockt in the Senate and Democratic State Rep. Cyrus Habib of Kirkland in the House of Representatives was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee last week.

The bill requires that health benefit plans must offer benefits or coverage for medically necessary elemental formula, regardless of delivery method, when a licensed health care provider diagnoses a patient with eosinophilia gastrointestinal disorders and supervises the use of the elemental formula.

Eosinophilia gastrointestinal disorders are very rare. Those who suffer from the disorder are unable to breakdown proteins, meaning they must take proteins through a special elemental formula. If the treatment was delivered through an invasive feeding tube, the expensive formula has been covered by insurance. However, if the patient could swallow the formula, many private insurers refused to cover the cost.

At a treatment cost of $1,200 per month many families had great difficulty covering the out-of-pocket costs.