Sen. Mike Bernskoetter shares his plans for the new year.

The holiday season is upon us, and the legislative session is close behind. In 2025, I plan on working on several important pieces of legislation that I hope will make it across the finish line and to the governor’s desk.

We are all aware of people who have struggled to afford out-of-pocket costs for medicines they need. This can be especially true for patients facing serious health problems, like cancer, or for those with chronic conditions, like arthritis. Even with health insurance, the costs of life-saving drugs can be astronomical. In addition, patients must face copay or deductible charges on top of their monthly insurance payments. One of my main priorities in this upcoming session is to work once more toward passing legislation like Senate Bill 844 that allows outside groups, such as charities or drug manufacturers, to help with copays for drugs that people need to survive.

Some insurance companies do not allow this practice. Even when faced with the high cost of treating a devastating cancer diagnosis, including all the surgeries and treatments that may entail, these insurance companies do not allow outside help to count towards deductibles. In my opinion, it should not matter if you paid the co-pay on these life-saving drugs or if a charity did. Due to this, I will again file legislation to allow outside help with a patient’s copay for life-saving treatments people need.

I also plan on once again filing legislation like Senate Bill 934, requiring the Public Service Commission (PSC)to have representatives of the agricultural industry on the commission. The PSC is the governing body for utility regulation in Missouri. It is composed of six members appointed by the governor. This is the group that sets how much money the utility companies can charge you in rates and is also the group that allows the utility companies to obtain land for power lines through eminent domain. But some of these utility companies don’t really understand what this costs to Missouri’s farmers and ranchers. If farmers or ranchers sat on the PSC, I believe their valuable perspective would encourage utility companies to reconsider before seizing a farmer’s land for power lines.

These are just a couple of bills that I plan on filing again this coming session. They have remained my key priorities despite not making it all the way through the legislative system in 2024. I understand the road is long and it is hard to pass a law. I know this is how the founders of our American democracy meant for the process to work. I also understand there is a reward at the end of that journey, making life better for the people who elect-ed me to be their senator. I will continue to work hard this session to turn these bills into law

Sen. Mike Bernskoetter took office in 2019, serving the 6th Senatorial District. Before being elected to the Missouri Senate, he served as a representative for the 59th District in the Missouri House of Representatives.