For an opposing point of view, see “Gov. Youngkin, please veto the Prescription Drug Affordability Board bill” by Richmond physician Harry Gewanter.
This year, General Assembly members from both parties and both chambers voted to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to begin bringing down the high costs of prescription drugs. I was the chief co-patron on the bill with Sen. Creigh Deeds, who believes like I do that the astronomical cost of prescription drugs can have devastating financial consequences for our Virginia families. But now that the legislation has been sent to Governor Youngkin, big pharmaceutical companies — and the organizations they fund — are doing everything they can to stop these critical reforms. As they’ve done for years, drug makers are fighting to keep their unlimited power to set drug prices at astronomical rates at the expense of everyday people.
The idea behind the bill is simple. It would bring together health care experts with no financial ties to Big Pharma to review the cost of certain drugs, considering information provided by those drug makers. If they determine those costs to be unreasonably high, this group of experts could set an upper payment limit to make them accessible to Virginians who need them.
The undisputed truth is that the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs are forcing many people to make impossible choices. In my district and all over the commonwealth, too many have to choose whether to fill their prescriptions or put food on the table or keep a roof over their head. Too many are splitting pills or skipping doses because they’re trying to stretch needed medication out until their next paycheck.
People who don’t take needed medications not only risk their short-term health, but also incur the impact of worse long-term health outcomes — like time away from work, lower earnings and savings, and more chronic conditions — which ultimately costs everybody more in terms of higher premiums and taxes.
This is why I joined my colleagues — both Democrats and Republicans — to champion this critical legislation in the General Assembly. It’s also why over 100 medical professionals, primarily physicians, signed a letter to Governor Youngkin urging him to sign the bill. They have seen firsthand the physical and financial toll that costly prescription medication is taking on their patients, which is why they are choosing to speak out on this important issue.
To protect their profits, Big Pharma is deploying some of their most time-honored distractions and attacks. Notably, drug makers like to hide behind the byzantine complexity of the health care system to blame other groups for the high cost of their products. More transparency and accountability are needed throughout the system, which is why I supported a bill this year (which passed unanimously) improving transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers. But the drug makers’ diversions don’t change the fact that they still make more profit off their prescriptions than all the other parts of the supply chain combined.
Big Pharma’s frequent scare tactics also include threats to stop researching new medications or pull drugs from the market. This is a particularly cynical attack that understandably makes people with chronic conditions and rare diseases — which are often treated with expensive drugs — nervous. They’ve been making these threats for decades, including in their fight to block the creation of generic drugs in 1984. But they lost that fight. And in the ensuing 40 years, Americans have directly and indirectly benefited from safe and affordable generic versions of needed medications. In case you’re worried about the drug makers, they’re doing just fine. They’re doing so well, in fact, that most spend more on marketing than they do on actual research.
I hope that Governor Youngkin will hear the voices of Virginians who overwhelmingly support this legislation, regardless of their partisan preferences. And it is my sincere hope that he will sign this legislation, which will send a clear message to Virginians struggling with high prescription drug costs that help is on the way.
Bill Stanley represents the 7th State Senate District. He is a Republican from Franklin County.