RICHMOND, Va. — Lawmakers legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug costs in Virginia has pricing bill has passed the Virginia House of Delegates 95-4 and is moving closer to Gov. Abigail Spanberger's desk.
The legislation, carried by Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville) in the Senate and Del. Karrie Delaney (D-Fairfax) in the House, would tie Virginia to an upper price limit for certain drugs that have been negotiated between drug manufacturers and the federal government.
Right now, those limits apply only to Medicare. The bill would expand them to other types of insurance.
"We're not only promising people we're going to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. We're bringing down the cost of prescription drugs with this bill," Deeds said.
Currently, 25 drugs — including those that treat diabetes, blood clots, and arthritis — are subject to the negotiated price limits at the federal level.
"It ties to a mechanism that's already worked to reduce drug pricing for Medicare patients, and make those available to other people, and that's — so this bill will actually bring down costs," Deeds said.
The legislation also requires health plans that utilize the pricing mechanism to report how cost savings on medication are passed on to enrollees.
"It does require that any cost savings from the maximum fair price be passed along to consumers, reducing out of pocket costs for Virginians, instead of being pocketed by middlemen or insurance companies," Delaney said Tuesday.
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The new version of the bill scraps a provision from older versions that would have created a state prescription drug affordability board with the power to set price limits on medication.
That board has been replaced with an advisory panel that will meet quarterly and make recommendations to the state and lawmakers on other ways to bring down prices.
Republicans, including former Governor Glenn Youngkin, had opposed the older version of the bill, argued the board could risk access to life-saving medication and that similar boards in other states had not delivered promised savings.
Del. M. Keith Hodges (R-Middlesex), a pharmacist by trade, said he changed his vote in support of the new version in part because of language requiring reporting requirements for pharmacy benefit managers — sometimes called the middlemen of the prescription drug pipeline.
"Sunshine is a good thing. Transparency is a good thing. So looking at these costs and looking at the rebates and what's going on in the back end that we don't see can trickle down to our patients and in the end, provide better cost savings for our patients," Hodges said. ""I do believe this is the right way to go."
However, the legislation still faces opposition from trade associations in the pharmaceutical sector.
“Whether price limits are set by a Virginia body or the federal government, the result is the same: pharmacies unable to carry drugs that they themselves cannot afford to carry and investors and potential new pharmaceutical companies avoiding Virginia," John Newby, CEO of the Virginia Biotechnology Association, said in a statement. "As such, Senate Bill 271/House Bill 483 remain a threat to Virginians' access to life-improving and life-saving medications. Any solution addressing rising healthcare costs must carefully consider all causes, including the drug distribution middlemen who do not pass savings on to patients. 11 other states have tried variations of this idea; none have delivered savings at the pharmacy counter. We all acknowledge the importance of patient access to affordable medications; this is not the solution."
The bill has a few more votes before it heads to Spanberger for approval. If signed, it would not take effect until Jan. 1.
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