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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 3, 2019 02:36 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Anthony M. DeLuca |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency Act |
| As policy makers, I believe that, at a minimum, we need to provide consumers with information currently not available in terms of why prescription drugs cost so much. At a time when we are all being asked to be more informed health care consumers, this seems to be a logical step for an industry that has become such a major part of our everyday health care. We have been fortunate to witness transformational change in the availability of life-changing and, in some cases, curative prescription drugs. This change, however, comes at a cost. The skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs is an area we need to explore as legislators. For the reasons above, and below, I will be re-introducing HB 161 from last session. Every day we are barraged with high cost television commercials and advertisements for prescription drugs. Some of these drugs cost consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. We are also witnessing a significant increase in the cost of drugs that have been on the market for many years, including household names like insulin, statins, epipen and countless other drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are indiscriminately raising the cost of prescription drugs without scrutiny, financially burdening those that need these drugs the most. In light of mounting public pressure, some drug companies have pledged not to increase the price of certain high utilization drugs; while also maintaining substantial profit margins. The bottom line is this; many pharmaceutical companies are raising prices on drugs that are already unaffordable for our constituents. Please join me in supporting this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB568