(The Center Square) – Michigan Senators introduced a bill package to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board in Michigan.
Senate Bills 483, 484, and 485 aim to establish a PDAB to help make prescriptions more affordable for Michiganders.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for the board in her priorities speech.
A PDAB would research and establish upper payment limits on the most expensive prescription drugs. The board would have the authority to review prescription drug costs and evaluate the impact on Michiganders. The UPL applies to all purchases and payments for a specific drug intended for sale in Michigan, to help ensure savings reach the consumer. Like with any public board, the public can weigh in and provide comments to a PDAB.
Sens. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, and Veronica Klinefelt, D-Eastpointe, sponsored the bills.
“As I talk to my Downriver constituents and Michiganders across the state, I’ve heard countless stories about how the high cost of prescription drugs is a growing crisis for so many,” Camilleri said in a statement. “At the same time big pharmaceutical companies continue to reap record profits with little accountability. This cannot continue. It is time for Michigan to take a stand against Big Pharma’s corporate greed and create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board.”
Nonpartisan leaders in economics, health care, the supply chain and academics with no personal or financial stake in the pharmaceutical industry would be appointed to the board.
“The Michigan Prescription Drug Task Force found nearly a third of residents aged 19 to 64 stopped taking their prescriptions because of the cost,” Klinefelt said in a statement. “We can bring down the cost of prescription drugs for people of all ages. I look forward to working with my fellow lawmakers to create a PDAB so we can rein in the rising costs of prescription drugs here in Michigan.”
Six states have already established a PDAB to set upper payment price limits on the most expensive prescription drugs and additional states are in the process of creating independent boards.
“The number one reason seniors skip or ration their prescriptions is because they can’t afford them. This must stop,” AARP Michigan State Director Paula Cunningham said in a statement. “We cannot allow older Michiganders to be the cash machine for big drug companies. AARP supports opening up the books and making the drug companies accountable for increasing prices year after year.”
The bills were referred to the Committee on Finance, Insurance, and Consumer Protection.
