Blog#17- 2/21/20
LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS TO LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES
By Richard Davis
The political process is rarely proactive. When it comes to dealing with the obscene prices charged for prescription drugs politicians, both locally and nationally, have been too slow to react. People are suffering and dying while legislators and policymakers offer us little more than words.
During the current Vermont legislative session a few bills addressing the high cost of prescription drugs have been introduced. Some have promise and others are just lame attempts at making the public think that politicians are addressing the problem.
One of those bills that should be labelled “See, we are doing something even if it is less than a band-aid,” was introduced by Windham County Senator Becca Balint and seven other Senators. I’m sure it was well intentioned and that it falls into category of helping a few people. But that does not stop it from being a slap in the face to a majority of insulin dependent Vermonters.
The bill, S.296 states, “A health insurance or other health benefit plan offered by a health
insurer or pharmacy benefit manager shall limit a beneficiary’s out-of-pocket expenditures for prescription insulin drugs to not more than $100.00 per 30-day supply, regardless of the amount or type of insulin needed to fill the beneficiary’s prescription.”
This bill recognizes a problem that has existed for years and its proponents seemed to have rolled over and played dead because they do not address the needs of insulin-dependent diabetics without insurance drug coverage.
Also keep in mind that while $100 a month is a lot less than the $300 or more one vial of insulin costs in the U.S., in many other countries, such as Canada, the same vial costs $30.
It is possible that sponsors of this bill are hoping that other legislation will address the gaps in S.296. S.246 and H.785 are Senate and House companion bills that, according to the bills propose to, “…authorize and direct the Green Mountain Care Board to evaluate the costs of certain high-cost prescription drugs and recommend methods for addressing those costs, including setting limits on what Vermonters would be expected to pay for some high-cost drugs.”
If drugs cost more than $100 a month or have increased 200% over the past year these bills would give the Green Mountain Care (GMC) Board the power to establish an upper payment limit for prescription drugs. The bills also establish a drug affordability stakeholder group and would require drug manufacturers to disclose information to the GMC board.
If passed, these bills would be effective on July 1, 2020. But I suspect there will be delays because the all-powerful drug manufacturing industry is not going to let a little state like Vermont control their prices, although Maine and Maryland have already moved in this direction.
Vermont is still pursuing legislation to import drugs from Canada. This will be about as effective as S.296 because it does not get to the root of the problem and will only save a few Vermonters from suffering and death. The Canadian government is considering legislation to bar the U.S. from depleting their prescription drug supply and such legislation would force the U.S. and Vermont to stop passing the buck.
The efforts by Vermont’s legislators are simply a recognition of the problem at this point. If some proposals become law it will help a little, but the only hope for substantive control over the pharmaceutical industry lies in Washington. As long as the current regime is in place there is no hope for drug price controls that will improve the quality and quantity of American lives any time soon.
