Four members of the Virginia House Commerce and Energy subcommittee voted against a bill to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board which would have set reasonable cost caps on prescription drugs.
Delegates Kathy Byron (R-Lynchburg), Israel O’Quinn (R-Bristol), Michael Webert (R-Culpeper), and Joseph McNamara (R-Salem) chose pharmaceutical companies’ profits over the health of Virginians, according to Virginians for Affordable Medicine.
Virginians for Affordable Medicine — a coalition of small businesses, doctors, local governments, patient advocates, faith leaders, and grassroots supporters — criticized the subcommittee for putting big pharmaceutical companies’ interests above Virginians who depend on life-saving medicine.
Today’s development comes after PhRMA, the trade association for drug manufacturers, threw their support behind O’Quinn’s bill — legislation that the Virginia Association of Health Plans says will simply raise health premiums on all Virginians.
The Youngkin administration also stated they were “strongly opposed” to the Prescription Drug Affordability Board legislation.
A 2022 Mason-Dixon poll showed that 82 percent of Virginians – including wide bipartisan majorities – support the establishment of a PDAB, and 56 percent of Virginians have personally felt the negative effect of the rising cost of medicine.
“Virginians sent us to Richmond to fight for their interests, not for corporate bottom lines,” said Del. Karrie Delaney (D-Chantilly) today. “People are paying too much to stay alive and healthy, and this isn’t a problem that is just going to go away. We need real solutions, and we need them now.”
In 2022, drug companies raised the price of more than 1,200 drugs by an average of 31.6 percent – about four times the rate of inflation.
If the PDAB were to be established, Virginia would join seven other states, including neighboring Maryland, that have adopted Prescription Drug Affordability Boards.
AARP Virginia has endorsed the legislation, and the Commonwealth Council on Aging included the bill in its 2023 legislative recommendations.
“Too many older Virginians, and Virginians of all ages, are struggling just to get by and pay for needed medications,” said AARP Virginia State President Joyce Williams. “I am disappointed that these delegates did not see fit to give us all a helping hand today.”
In the last decade, Virginians have been shouldering a greater burden of prescription drug costs than most Americans.
In 2020, Virginians spent 36 percent more per person on prescription drugs than the national average: $1,500 in Virginia compared to $1,100 nationally. From 2015 to 2020, Virginians’ average spending on prescription drugs rose from $1,400 to $1,500 – a 6.6 percent increase, more than twice the national increase. Last year, Virginians paid a combined $3.2 billion on prescription drugs in the commercial market.
“Hardworking people are drowning in massive inflation, and the costs of prescription drugs are weighing them down,” said Rhena Hicks, executive director of Freedom Virginia. “Virginians deserve to keep more of what they earn. It seems the drug lobbyists and Republicans on House Commerce and Energy disagree.”
For more information, visit http://virginiaforaffordablemedicine.org
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Crystal Graham
