(Boston, MA) April 11, 2019 – Today
Health Care For All and the Massachusetts Prescription Drug Affordability Coalition provided testimony in support of
An Act to ensure prescription drug cost transparency and affordability
(H.1133/
S.706).
This
comprehensive legislation aims to make prescription drugs affordable
and available to consumers, ensure pharmaceutical costs are more
transparent,
and contain costs for MassHealth, employers and the entire health care
system.
“The
price of prescription drugs continues to rise exponentially, increasing
the cost of health insurance and placing a considerable burden on
families and
employers, as well as the state’s budget,” said Senator Jason Lewis, who is the lead sponsor alongside Representative Christine Barber. He added, “As
policymakers, we have the responsibility to protect consumers and rein in runaway drug prices by
opening the black box of prescription drug pricing.”
The
Health Policy Commission’s (HPC) 2018 Cost Trends report showed that
Massachusetts drug spending increased more than twice as much as overall
health care spending
last year – 4 percent compared to just 1.6 percent for all health care
spending. In addition, we know that drug spending in MassHealth has
doubled from $1.1B to $2.2B over the past five years, twice the rate of
growth for other MassHealth spending.
“I
hear often from constituents about the burden of prescription drug
prices on the budgets of families and small
businesses. The goal of our bill is to make prescriptions affordable
and available for people in Massachusetts by increasing transparency on
pricing and making the pharmaceutical industry accountable,” said House
Representative Christine Barber.
Between
2006 and 2014, nationally, the price of prescription drugs rose by an
average of 57 percent, and price for drugs with no generic substitutes
rose by 142 percent.
In just one example, the price of Humira, a common arthritis
medication, rose from $19,000 a year per patient seven years ago to more
than $38,000 today – a 100 percent increase. In another example, the
price of the bladder infection drug Nitrofurantoin increased
400 percent just last year. The cost of the most common types of
insulin have tripled in the last 10 years, with the average price at
$450 per month in 2016, which has caused out of pocket costs to double.
“The prescription drug market place is clearly broken,” said Deirdre Cummings, Legislative Director for MASSPIRG. "In our recent
survey of prescription drug prices, we found that prices varied by nearly 900 percent
across the country for the exact same medicines."
Evidence shows that high cost-sharing for prescription drugs leads patients to not take the drugs their doctors prescribe.
“The
rising cost of pharmaceutical drugs increases the cost of health care
for our patients and can often result in patients forgoing important
medications prescribed
to improve and save their lives. It’s time for real reform, and this
bill does just that. It provides necessary transparency and real
protections for the most egregious cost increases,” said
Dr.
Alain A. Chaoui, President of the Massachusetts Medical Society. “This
bill holds all players accountable, saves the system money and improves
the health of our patients, which should
be the foremost objective of all legislation aimed at controlling drug
prices.”
There
are multiple reasons for high and growing prescription drug costs. A
complex system of middlemen and rebates prevents consumers and
policymakers from
understanding prices being charged. Pharmacy benefit managers have a
conflict of interest because the higher the price they negotiate, the
bigger the rebate they keep. The brand name drug market is by nature not
competitive, so there is no restraint on high
prices. It can also be difficult for doctors to get objective
information that is not influenced by manufacturer marketing practices
as to which drugs are best for particular diagnoses and patients.
“Currently,
there is little to no transparency when it comes to the actual costs
required to produce a drug, and there is no mechanism or oversight
to ensure that drugs are truly affordable for those who need them,”
said Amy Rosenthal, Executive Director of Health Care For All. “As a
result, pharmaceutical companies may set arbitrary and opaque prices for
drugs, and too many people in Massachusetts cannot
access these drugs due to high costs.”
This
legislation includes six policies that address each of these factors
driving up costs. It calls for transparency around the underlying costs
to produce
prescription drugs; restrains abuses of pharmacy benefit managers;
authorizes the HPC to set upper payment limits to bring down the costs
of unreasonably high-priced drugs; requires pharmacists to inform
consumers if purchasing a drug at the retail price would
be cheaper than using health insurance; provides tools to strengthen
MassHealth’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices; and permanently
funds a program to provide evidence-based information to providers known
as “academic detailing.”
“Far
too many seniors leave the pharmacy empty-handed because the cost of
their prescriptions is too high. No one should have to choose between
their medication and their
food or other basic needs. We must do more to ensure that everyone,
seniors and their families, are able to afford the life-saving treatment
their doctors have prescribed. This bill will shine a light on
prescription drug pricing and give us a path to ensuring
residents of the Commonwealth can access the care they need,” said Edna
Pruce, Mass. Senior Action Council president, age 86, resident of
Mattapan.
The
number of bills being heard by the Joint Committee on Health Care
Financing speaks to how important action on affordable prescription
drugs is to consumers across
the state.
“It
is essential that the Legislature take comprehensive action to reduce
the costs of prescription drugs,” said Tim Foley, executive vice
president of
60,000 member Massachusetts division of 1199SEIU United Healthcare
Workers East. “We are united with coalition partners in strong support
of this legislation. Taken together, this bill and these reforms are
important first steps to address out-of-control prescription
drug costs that negatively impact healthcare providers, consumers, and
workers alike.”
A broad-based coalition of
consumers, doctors and other providers have come together to support
H. 1133/S. 706 because it is the most
comprehensive bill to address this complex issue. All these solutions
are needed to address the challenge of high drug costs and make these
savings real for people.
