Month: July 2021

By Saja Hindi | shindi@denverpost.com | The Denver Post June 8, 2021 at 12:37 p.m.

As prescription drug costs go up, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill Tuesday that lawmakers hope will make a dent in those prices.

SB21-175 would create a prescription drug affordability board that would be charged with reviewing medication costs as well as setting a ceiling for some of those drug costs. State officials estimate between 100-125 categories of drugs will be eligible for review, according to Kaiser Health News.

Gov. Jared Polis supported the bill, which is expected to be signed into law. Pharmaceutical companies and Republicans were against it.

Starting April 1, 2022, the board can set limits for only 12 drugs per year for a three-year period (though it can still review additional drugs and make policy recommendations). The review can be triggered by any of the following: Drugs increase by more than 10% over a one-year period for a one-year supply; a brand-name drug costs more than $30,000 per year; or a generic drug costs $100 or more per month. Coloradans can also ask the board to review certain prescriptions.

“For a lot of drugs, there’s a strong reason to believe the prices are set because of what the market will bear, rather than any sort of justification for the investment that went into them,” said Lakewood Democratic Sen. Chris Kennedy, one of the bill’s sponsors. “And in those cases, we’re going to fight to reduce the cost, and I think it’s going to be very meaningful in terms of savings for Coloradans.”

Maryland is the only other state with a drug affordability board, but it is more limited than Colorado’s proposal, Kennedy said.

About 1 in 3 Coloradans struggle to afford their prescription drugs, according to the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. Some end up cutting their pills their pills into smaller doses, not taking them as often as prescribed or not refilling their prescriptions.

An April 20-26 poll conducted by Keating Research on behalf of the Colorado Consumer Initiative found 77% of respondents across party lines supported creating a prescription drug affordability board.

House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, a Loveland Republican, believes the bill gives too much authority to Colorado’s commissioner of insurance, and would end up hurting consumers rather than helping them.

“My concern is that (the board) will create upper payment limits that are more aspirational than realistic,” McKean told The Denver Post. That could lead companies to stop offering drugs that people need because they can’t afford to make them, he said.

By Kurt Rager / Director, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry, New Mexico and Erik Lujan / Board President, Health Action New Mexico

Sunday, July 4th, 2021 at 12:02am

Drug prices have little to do with the cost of research and development and the need to deliver affordable treatment to patients and much more to do with company revenue targets and profits. Biogen’s stock soared nearly 40% on news of the $56,000 price tag. Prescription drug companies are the only businesses in the health care industry whose rates are not regulated. It’s time to hold them to the same standard as all other health care providers.

New Mexico needs a Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) to help ensure we all have access to affordable medications, because drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them, and our health care system cannot sustain the continued upward pressure of rising drug costs. By creating a PDAB, the Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham can empower an independent body with the authority to evaluate high-cost drugs and set reasonable rates for consumers to pay.

Other states are already acting to take on the pharmaceutical industry’s anti-consumer practices. The Colorado Legislature just passed a PDAB that will consider a broad range of economic factors when setting appropriate payment rates for reviewed drugs, requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to justify drug costs. Once a fair payment rate is determined, the board sets an upper payment limit that applies to all purchasers and payor reimbursements in the state, ensuring that lower costs benefit consumers.

The bill sets various conditions that would trigger an affordability review, including when prices increase by more than 10% per year, or exceed either $30,000 a year for brand-name drugs or $100 a month for generics per person. Patients or consumer advocates could also nominate drugs for review.

New Mexicans continue to struggle to afford the prescription drugs they need, often having to choose between their medication and other necessities, like rent and groceries. Meanwhile, the drug companies that produce these drugs make billions of dollars a year in profits. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports 35 big drug companies raked in $8.6 billion in profits between 2000 and 2018. Nine of the top 10 companies spend more money on marketing and advertising than they do on researching new drugs. There is no excuse for the high prices they charge.

A new statewide coalition of health experts, patient advocates and consumers – New Mexico Consumers for Affordable Prescriptions – is urging lawmakers to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board and end prescription drug price gouging that hurts our families and neighbors. Organizations ranging from AARP, the Center on Law and Poverty and Health Action New Mexico to New Mexico Voices for Children and the New Mexico Conference of Churches have come together to demand action in the 2022 legislative session.

On average, Americans pay four times as much for the same medicines as people in other countries. As prescription drug companies continue to increase prices, it’s time to stand up to those who are harming vulnerable New Mexicans. We need controls to make drugs more affordable for people. New Mexico needs a Prescription Drug Affordability Board.