State-imposed price controls won’t actually limit what most patients pay. Insurers require their beneficiaries to share costs. They base their co-pays on drugs’ list prices. The new price controls cap what drug makers can charge insurance companies and other payers. But insurers can still turn around and charge patients whatever they like.
Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board recently declared that Stelara, a popular treatment for Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions, is “unaffordable.” Soon, the board’s five unelected members could decide whether to impose an “upper payment limit” on the medication.
The decision could have significant consequences not just in Colorado but across the country. Ten other states have recently established prescription drug affordability boards (including Massachusetts). They’re closely watching Colorado’s decision — and may copy it in the months and years to come.
The forthcoming price controls will inevitably restrict patients’ access to Stelara and other drugs. In the process, they’ll stifle research into future treatments and cures that could save lives.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
Drug ‘affordability’ boards won’t really help patients
Sally C. Pipes
State-imposed price controls won’t actually limit what most patients pay. Insurers require their beneficiaries to share costs. They base their co-pays on drugs’ list prices. The new price controls cap what drug makers can charge insurance companies and other payers. But insurers can still turn around and charge patients whatever they like.
Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board recently declared that Stelara, a popular treatment for Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions, is “unaffordable.” Soon, the board’s five unelected members could decide whether to impose an “upper payment limit” on the medication.
The decision could have significant consequences not just in Colorado but across the country. Ten other states have recently established prescription drug affordability boards (including Massachusetts). They’re closely watching Colorado’s decision — and may copy it in the months and years to come.
The forthcoming price controls will inevitably restrict patients’ access to Stelara and other drugs. In the process, they’ll stifle research into future treatments and cures that could save lives.
Read the entire op-ed here.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.