Richmond Times Dispatch: Editorial: Community input matters on lowering prescription costs

Nov 28, 2019
Healthcare
In the News
Local Issues
Social Security, Medicare, & Retirement

RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH, CHRIS GENTILVISO

When Virginia patients walk into local pharmacies to fill a prescription, they hope they’re on a path to healing — not more pain.

Weeks later, a bill arrives in the mail. The reality sets in. The medicine is too expensive.

A September AARP fact sheet captured a recent snapshot of how skyrocketing prescription drug costs are affecting health care in the commonwealth and across the country. In 2017, 23% of Virginians ages 19-64 said prices forced them to stop taking their medications. The analysis came from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiative at the University of Minnesota. The data came from the National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

AARP’s Rx Price Watch reports shed some light on why Americans are struggling to stay on their prescriptions. Over the past few years, some patients experienced severe sticker shock. For example, Lantus, which targets diabetes, went from $2,907 per year in 2012 to $4,702 per year in 2017. Aggrenox, which addresses heart disease, increased from $3,030 a year to $5,930 a year over that same span.

Drugs for more serious conditions like cancer can carry price hikes above an annual salary. Revlimid, which treats certain types of cancer, ballooned from $147,413 per year in 2012 to $247,496 per year in 2017. Unsustainable is the first word that comes to mind.

That’s why we’re pleased to see U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, and AARP Virginia State Director Jim Dau hold important conversations like Tuesday’s prescription drug town hall in Glen Allen. Community input matters on lowering costs and the public knows the issues that require legislative attention from Congress.

Market transparency would be a good start. In late October, the House unanimously passed Spanberger’s Public Disclosure of Drug Discounts Act — a bill requiring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to post information online about how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) negotiate with manufacturers and charge consumers.

According to the journal Health Affairs, PBMs raked in an estimated $22.6 billion in gross profits in 2016. The National Academy for State Health Policy also notes the three largest ones — Express Scripts, CVS Caremark and Optum Rx — hold great power, controlling three-quarters of the market.

Yes, health care is an industry — but having healthy citizens is a public good. Trips to the pharmacy should be about patients getting better, not companies getting richer.

Recent Posts


Oct 3, 2024
Veterans' Issues

President Signs Into Law Spanberger-Backed Bill to Cut Red Tape for Veterans Joining the Trucking Workforce

The “Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act” Would Cut Red Tape for CDL Schools & the Veterans They Serve WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Biden this week signed into law bipartisan legislation U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger helped lead to cut red tape for Veterans looking to use their GI benefits to pay for commercial driver’s license […]



Oct 2, 2024
Press

Spanberger Grateful for FEMA Disaster Assistance for Virginia to Recover from Hurricane Helene, Urges Congress to Pass Emergency Appropriations Package to “Meet Any Unmet Needs”

Congresswoman: “Virginia’s Families And Businesses Will Need Additional Support As The Full Extent Of The Devastation Becomes Clear” WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today released the following statement after President Biden granted additional federal disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Congresswoman also urged congressional […]



Oct 1, 2024
Press

Spanberger, Wittman Lead Bipartisan Effort to Increase Military Leave for Federal Employees Serving in the National Guard, Reserves

The “Supporting Federal Employees in the National Guard & Reserves Act” is Endorsed by the National Fraternal Order of Police, International Association of Fire Fighters, American Federation of Government Employees, & Reserve Organization of America WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) today introduced bipartisan legislation to increase military leave […]