Boards would hinder access to medicines

The accessibility and affordability of prescription medication are vital to the health and quality of life for patients throughout the country.

Prescription medications have prolonged and saved lives. Some medications, though, are cost-prohibitive for many patients. Even with insurance coverage, many patients, particularly those with rare diseases, are struggling to afford the medication they need. Everyone is in agreement about the need to make these drugs more affordable for the patients.

One solution being offered in Illinois is the creation of a Prescription Drug Advisory Board to regulate drug prices in Illinois. On the surface, this sounds like a reasonable approach, but the reality is this idea does not improve affordability and in the end these boards make it more difficult for patients to access their prescriptions.

The proponents of Prescription Drug Advisory Boards offer no evidence of actual savings to patients at the pharmacy. This is because adding another layer of bureaucracy to pharmaceutical regulations is a solution that is doomed from the outset.

These boards also limit access to the medication patients need. If manufacturers cannot make the upper price limits work, they may pull affected prescriptions from those states’ market.

Affordability is important but so is accessibility. A prescription a patient cannot access helps no one. Pharmaceutical companies rebate about 40% of a drug’s cost back to health insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers. Unfortunately, these rebates are not passed onto consumers when they go to the pharmacy.

Why should patients pay full price for medication when insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers do not? What is happening is wrong and needs to change. Let’s remove the barriers that are costing patients money instead of creating more bureaucratic red tape.

Lauren Young, Vice Chair

Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency