Bill Ensures PBMs are Working to Lower Prescription Drug Costs
DENVER– Today, the Colorado House of Representatives passed House Bill 1094 on a bipartisan vote to help reduce the costs of prescription drugs for Coloradans by holding pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) accountable.
In their role as middlemen in the prescription drug system, PBMs are meant to negotiate lower prescription medication costs on behalf of health insurers, large employers, and ultimately Colorado patients. However, PBMs are in fact taking advantage of the prescription drug system and increasing out-of-pocket costs in order to secure larger profits. House Bill 1094 would prevent PBMs from generating revenue through high prescription prices, prevent them from restricting patient access to more affordable treatments, and ensure they pass on savings to patients as intended.
“I’m grateful to my colleagues for moving this critical piece of legislation forward to ensure we can continue to take steps to increase transparency and accountability in our health care network and reduce costs,” said Representative Brown. “If we want to ensure that Colorado patients can afford the health care and the medications they rely on long-term, we have to look at all the players in the system. This legislation will help rein in these costs and ensure that PBMs are actually working to lower prices for consumers.
"The people I serve are feeling the weight of rising prescription costs, and they’re looking to us for real action," said Representative Johnson. "This bill is about fairness for every Coloradan, no matter if they live in the city or the heart of rural Colorado. For too long, rural communities have been hit hardest by high drug prices and limited access to healthcare. That’s why we’re standing up to make sure that PBMs aren’t pushing prices higher, and that our local, independent pharmacies—those lifelines in small towns—aren’t left behind. It’s time we level the playing field for all our communities."
Recent polling shows that 70% of Colorado residents experienced at least one healthcare affordability crisis in the past year, 83% worried about affording healthcare in the future, and 68% of all respondents had delayed or went without healthcare due to cost.
“We are thrilled to see this legislation move forward because the patients we work with that deal with chronic medical conditions day-in and day-out know that it will help increase access to the medications they need,” said Sara Froelich, Executive Director of the Chronic Care Collaborative. “It’s encouraging to see lawmakers from both sides of the aisle come together to increase transparency and accountability in our healthcare system and most importantly reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients and families.”
This bill will now move to the Senate. Learn more about PBMs and meaningful policy reforms to lower costs at pbmaccountabilityco.org.
Comments