STATEMENT: Colorado Becomes Third State With Prescription Drug Affordability Board
DENVER — The following statement was issued by Lucy Westerfield, deputy executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, following Governor Jared Polis’ signing of SB 21-175, a bill that establishes a prescription drug affordability board designed to deliver relief to Coloradans suffering from high drug prices:
“On behalf of Colorado patients, we thank Governor Polis for signing into law SB 21-175, a groundbreaking bill that will establish the country’s third prescription drug affordability board. The new prescription drug affordability board, which has overwhelming support from Coloradans, will be the first board of its kind to have the power to set upper payment limits for all insurers, providing meaningful relief to patients who struggle to afford their medications due to high prices. This is an important step for Colorado and one we hope other states will follow to protect patients and stand up to Big Pharma.”
Background:
Colorado is the third state in the country to establish a prescription drug affordability board, the first in the country to have a board with the authority to set upper payment limits, and the first in the country whose set rates apply to all insurers.
SB 21-175 creates a prescription drug affordability board that would:
Perform affordability reviews of prescription drugs;
Establish upper payment limits for prescription drugs that are determined to be unaffordable for Coloradans;
Investigate, review, and establish more affordable prices for the most expensive and unaffordable prescription drugs;
Investigate and review when drug companies sharply increase the price of a specific drug.
Colorado patient Kris Garcia, who lives with multiple bleeding disorders including hemophilia, advocated for SB 21-175 at a March press conference and then again at a May legislative hearing. Garcia relies on a medication called Humate-P, which costs $10,000 per vial.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now mobilized Colorado residents to make more than 800 phone calls to legislators asking them to support the bill.
###
This week: a new royal baby and a new drug only royalty can afford. Welcome to the Week in Review.
Drug Pricing Poster Child
After the FDA approved Aduhelm, a drug intended to target the disease process of Alzheimer’s, drug maker Biogen set its list price at a staggering $56,000 per year. It’s an outrageous price for a drug that hasn’t even been proven clinically effective yet. At this cost, treatment for even one-third of Alzheimer’s patients would raise U.S. drug spending by about 22 percent. Aduhelm is a poster child for why Medicare should be allowed to negotiate drug prices — our system and patients cannot support unlimited prices. Without Medicare negotiation, we’re going to watch “our system bend, break, buckle under the weight of this kind of drug and this kind of pricing.” — (USA Today)
2.Congress Negotiates Negotiation
Congressional Democrats are continuing to work on legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Senate Finance Chair Wyden is drafting a bill that is expected to include negotiation, Senate Majority Leader Schumer is also at work on the issue, and House Democrats are pushing to include H.R. 3 in the next budget reconciliation package. Congress must keep advancing on a path to reform our broken drug pricing system and lower prices for Americans. — (The Hill, The Washington Post)
3.Colorado Makes History
In a huge win for Colorado patients, the state legislature passed a bill that would establish the third prescription drug affordability board in the nation — and the first with the power to set upper payment limits on unaffordable drugs. We are grateful to state lawmakers for standing with Colorado patients and look forward to Gov. Jared Polis’ signature on the bill in the coming weeks! — (The Denver Post)
4. Seniors Pay The Price
A new AARP report found that the prices of 260 commonly used drugs increased by more than double the rate of inflation last year. Drug prices are becoming more and more unsustainable for seniors like Pam Holt, who lives with multiple myeloma and pays thousands of dollars for Revlimid each year, and Lynn Scarfuto, who lives with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. “People cannot afford to make a choice between food or living and taking pills,” Lynn said. — (AARP, MarketWatch, USA Today)
5. Pharma Pours Cash On Lawmakers
New analyses from STAT reveal the broad financial influence that pharma has in Congress and in state legislatures across the country. During the 2020 election cycle, the drug industry made campaign contributions to over two-thirds of Congress and one-third of state lawmakers, totaling about $23 million. Patients can’t match pharma in its outrageous spending funded by constant price hikes, but we are fighting back with our voices and stories — and we will win. — (STAT)
DENVER— The following statement was issued by Lucy Westerfield, deputy executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, following the Colorado state legislature’s vote to pass SB 21-175, a bill that establishes a prescription drug affordability board designed to deliver relief to Coloradans suffering from high drug prices:
“The passage of SB 21-175 is a huge win for Colorado patients who have struggled with outrageous prescription drug prices for far too long. We are grateful to the Colorado state legislature for standing with patients and passing this groundbreaking bill to establish a prescription drug affordability board and meaningfully lower drug prices. We look forward to Governor Polis signing this bill into law.”
Background:
If signed into law, SB 21-175 would create a prescription drug affordability board that would:
Perform affordability reviews of prescription drugs;
Establish upper payment limits for prescription drugs that are determined to be unaffordable for Coloradans. This is the first bill in the nation to provide this authority;
Investigate, review, and establish more affordable prices for the most expensive and unaffordable prescription drugs;
Investigate and review when drug companies sharply increase the price of a specific drug.
Colorado patient Kris Garcia, who lives with multiple bleeding disorders including hemophilia, advocated for SB 21-175 at a March press conference and then again at a May legislative hearing. Garcia relies on a medication called Humate-P, which costs $10,000 per vial.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now mobilized Colorado residents to make more than 800 phone calls to legislators asking them to support the bill.
SB 21-175 passed out of the state legislature on June 8 and is headed to Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ desk, where he is expected to sign it into law in the coming weeks.
###
What do AbbVie and UFOs have in common? They’re both under investigation by the U.S. government.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Take The Lead: Pass H.R. 3
New national and state polls from West Health show just how popular Medicare negotiation is among Americans. Across the country, 81 percent of Americans believe the government should be allowed to negotiate lower drug prices, with similar levels of support in Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey, and West Virginia. It’s settled: Americans demand Medicare negotiation. Congress must pass H.R. 3 now. — (The Hill)
2.Pharma Adds To List Of Offenses
Following last month’s House Oversight and Reform Committee hearingon pharma giant AbbVie’s abusive pricing practices, on Wednesday the Senate Finance Committee launched its own probe into the drug company’s scheme to avoid paying American taxes. In a letter to the CEO of AbbVie, Senate Finance Chair Wyden raised concerns that AbbVie reported a domestic pretax loss of $4.5 billion and a foreign pretax profit of $7.9 billion last year despite generating most of its revenue in the United States. Yet again, pharma shows it’s all too willing to exploit taxpayers and patients, all to maximize its bottom line. — (Reuters)
3.“An Easy Choice That Will Save Lives”
The New Jersey legislature must establish a prescription drug affordability board and lower drug prices for patients across the state, writes Assemblyman John McKeon in an op-ed. Polls show that 43 percent of New Jerseyans have delayed or forgone taking a prescribed medication due to high costs, and 88 percent support drug affordability board legislation. “All across our state working families are struggling to afford life-saving medicine,” McKeon writes. “It’s time to focus on the real problem and bring down drug costs for everyone in New Jersey.” — (The Star-Ledger)
AUGUSTA — The following statement was issued by Lucy Westerfield, deputy executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, leading up to the Maine Senate and House votes on the Making Health Care Work for Mainepackage to lower drug prices. This statement follows the Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services Committee votes last week to move the package to the floor of both chambers:
“Maine legislators have a clear choice to make when voting on the Making Health Care Work for Maine package — they can vote in favor of Maine patients who are struggling to afford high prescription drug prices, or they can vote in favor of Big Pharma’s interests.
“In order to protect Mainers from pharmaceutical price gouging and unnecessary price increases, the legislature must pass the strongest versions of LD 675 and LD 1117 along with the remainder of the package. That’s why next week, P4ADNow is launching a tool to mobilize Mainers to call on their legislators to support the full package. Patients need meaningful prescription drug price relief now.”
Background:
The Making Health Care Work for Maine package includes the following legislation:
LD 675 would clamp down on unsupported price increases by fining pharmaceutical manufacturers that increase drug prices without justification.
LD 1117 would prohibit price gouging on generic and off-patent drugs and give the state attorney general authority to bring penalties against drug companies that refuse to lower prices.
LD 673 would create an insulin safety net program to provide emergency access to affordable insulin for Mainers needing immediate relief.
LD 686 would strengthen prescription drug price transparency by requiring the Maine Health Data Organization to share information collected from drug companies with the public.
LD 120 would establish the Office of Affordable Health Care to help examine the factors contributing to rising prices.
On May 27, the Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services Committee concluded a two-day work session on the package. While all five bills moved forward, members of the committee approved two versions of the strongest bills — LD 675 and LD 1117. One version of each bill is supported by the bill’s sponsor and patients, and the other version is pharma’s attempt to pass significantly watered-down legislation.
The Making Health Care Work for Maine package faces additional votes in the House and the Senate before heading to the governor’s desk for her signature.
Maine patient advocates Lori Dumont, Miriam Wolfe, and Sabrina Burbeck previously testified in support of the bill package before the Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services Committee in April.
###
KANSAS — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now kicks off a campaign today thanking Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-03) for supporting H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, a package of drug pricing reforms that includes allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices for Kansans. The campaign includes digital ads as well as grassroots advocacy, in which constituents will contact Rep. Davids to thank her for fighting for patients. The campaign comes after Big Pharma launched a campaign loaded with lies, pressuring Rep. Davids not to support H.R. 3.
“Big Pharma is trying to get Rep. Davids to bow to its power with lies and fear-mongering. But she is standing strong to win reforms that will lower the outrageous prices of prescription drugs,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Thanks to Rep. Davids’ leadership, we can pass H.R. 3 to ensure we get affordable medicines we need now and innovation for the future.”
The campaign launches with an ad highlighting patient advocate Marcus LaCour, who lives with type 1 diabetes. The ad will run on digital platforms in Kansas’ third district.
“I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 15 years old. Because insulin is so expensive, I’ve had to skip and ration my doses. My wife has had to skip meals so that we could afford the insulin that I needed to survive,” LaCour, a Cincinnati husband, father, minister, and drug affordability advocate says in the video ad. “No family should have to make that decision. For millions of Americans, it’s serious enough that we need help.”
H.R. 3 was recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives. The chamber passed the bill in the 116th Congress. H.R. 3 is a comprehensive bill that will lower prices, rein in price gouging, and reduce out-of-pocket costs by restoring balance to the U.S. drug pricing system to ensure both innovation and affordability.
The Kansas campaign is part of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s seven-figure national campaign launching in 42 House districts across 22 states and in D.C.
###
NEW HAMPSHIRE — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now kicks off a campaign today thanking Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01) for supporting H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, a package of drug pricing reforms that includes allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices for Granite Staters. The campaign includes digital ads as well as grassroots advocacy, in which constituents will contact Rep. Pappas to thank him for fighting for patients. The campaign comes after Big Pharma launched attack ads loaded with lies, pressuring Rep. Pappas not to support H.R. 3.
“Big Pharma is trying to get Rep. Pappas to bow to its power with lies and fear-mongering. But he is standing strong to win reforms that will lower the outrageous prices of prescription drugs,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Thanks to Rep. Pappas’s leadership, we can pass H.R. 3 to ensure we get affordable medicines we need now and innovation for the future.”
The campaign launches with an ad highlighting patient advocate Marcus LaCour, who lives with type 1 diabetes. The ad will run on digital platforms in New Hampshire’s first district.
“I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 15 years old. Because insulin is so expensive, I’ve had to skip and ration my doses. My wife has had to skip meals so that we could afford the insulin that I needed to survive,” LaCour, a Cincinnati husband, father, minister, and drug affordability advocate says in the video ad. “No family should have to make that decision. For millions of Americans, it’s serious enough that we need help.”
H.R. 3 was recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives. The chamber passed the bill in the 116th Congress. H.R. 3 is a comprehensive bill that will lower prices, rein in price gouging, and reduce out-of-pocket costs by restoring balance to the U.S. drug pricing system to ensure both innovation and affordability.
The New Hampshire campaign is part of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s seven-figure national campaign launching in 42 House districts across 22 states and in D.C.
###
Between the Friends reunion and pharma’s lies about H.R. 3’s impact on innovation, it sure feels like deja vu.Welcome to the Week in Review.
Momentum Grows
This week, 156 House Democrats — 70 percent of the House Democratic Caucus — signed a letter urging the Biden administration to include Medicare negotiation in the American Families Plan. Meanwhile, President Biden doubled down on his support of proposals to lower drug prices in his 2022 budget released Friday. The momentum for passing meaningful reforms clear — Congress, the president, and patients agree that lowering drug prices must be a top priority this year. Together, we’ll fight to get it done. — (The New York Times)
2.Pharma Giant At It Again
Just as the House Oversight and Reform Committee released its reporton the abusive pricing practices of pharma giant AbbVie, the company is helping to bankroll enormous lobbying efforts to block comprehensive drug pricing legislation in Congress. Big Pharma claims its high prices fund innovation, but it’s clear high prices reap enormous profits for the industry — and Big Pharma doesn’t want to see an end to those anytime soon. — (Salon)
3.Negotiation Works
The success of COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution in the United States is a testament to how government investment and price negotiation can rapidly bring patients the drugs we need without sacrificing innovation, according to a new op-ed by Harvard economist Richard Frank and Mark Miller of Arnold Ventures. “Negotiation accompanied by infrastructure and innovation investments can balance both the budget and the need for scientific breakthroughs, making innovative therapies accessible and affordable,” the authors write. “Americans deserve better than what they are currently getting.” — (The Hill)
