While we share a commitment to addressing the high cost of prescription drugs, we have significant concerns with Virginia H.B. 1724 that creates a Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB). We believe it will not translate into lower drug costs for patients and may dampen future drug development.
While we all want to lower drug costs, we do not believe that expanding the PDAB’s Upper Payment Limit (UPL) authority will actually save patients money. Instead, we have significant concerns that SB 357 could unintentionally restrict access to critical medications, discourage investment in new treatments, and reduce funding to safety net programs that already help patients afford life-saving drugs.
While we share a commitment to addressing the high cost of prescription drugs, we have significant concerns with SB0357 that expands the authority of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB). We believe it will not translate into lower drug costs for patients and may dampen future drug development. Access to and affordability of the latest drugs are especially critical for patients living with HIV, hepatitis, cancer, and rare diseases. People with HIV and hepatitis B rely on drug treatments that they must take for the rest of their lives, while people with hepatitis C can be cured of their disease in as little as 8 to 12 weeks. We also now have medications that prevent HIV.
Price-setting mechanisms like Upper Payment Limits (UPLs) imposed by a PDAB fail to account for the complexities of both drug pricing and the broader drug development ecosystem. This approach could discourage investments in new treatments and slow the development in advances we desperately need, and also risks creating significant barriers to patient access.
The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, a leading organization advocating for equitable and affordable healthcare for individuals living with or at risk of HIV, hepatitis, and other chronic health conditions, strongly supports Assembly Bill 5217. This vital legislation ensures that health insurers accept and count payments made on behalf of patients toward their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.