RICHMOND, Va. — On Monday, Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation establishing a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. Why? Let’s explore his “reasoning.”
LIE #1: “The proposed authority granted to the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) would allow medication availability to be determined based solely on cost considerations rather than accounting for the expert opinions of healthcare professionals…”
Fact-Check: FALSE
The expert opinions of healthcare professionals drive the Board and its membership. The Virginia Prescription Drug Affordability Board would be a small, independent group of people with expertise in medicine, health care, and economics. Just read the bill language here:
“The Board shall be composed of five nonlegislative citizen members that shall be appointed as follows: two members to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, two members to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and one member to be appointed by the Governor who shall be a representative of a local government in the Commonwealth. The Governor shall appoint three alternate nonlegislative citizen members of the Board. Members of the Board shall have expertise in health care, health care economics, the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program and its impacts on Virginia’s federally qualified health centers, or clinical medicine.”
LIE #2: “The proposed authority granted to the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) would allow medication availability to be determined based solely on cost considerations rather than accounting for […] the unique medical needs of individual patients.”
Fact-Check: FALSE
Here’s how a possible upper payment limit (UPL) to save consumers money on expensive medicine would actually be decided. Patients and pharmaceutical manufacturers would be represented through a stakeholder council, ensuring the Board hears input from all sides of the issue:
“The Board shall create a stakeholder council for the purpose of providing stakeholder input to assist the Board in making decisions as required under this chapter. The stakeholder council shall consist of 11 nonlegislative citizen members appointed in accordance with this section…one of whom shall be a representative of a rare disease and patient advocacy organization. Members shall include manufacturers of brand-name drugs and generic drugs, providers that dispense or administer prescription drug products, suppliers of prescription drug products, and consumers of prescription drug products.”
LIE #3: “This approach could limit access to treatments and hinder medical innovation, especially for life-threatening or rare diseases. The implications of the proposed upper payment limits (UPLs) are detrimental for patients with life-threatening diseases such as cancer.”
Fact-Check: FALSE
When considering an upper payment limit, the Board’s directed goal is to determine if a particular prescription drug “has led or will lead to affordability challenges for the health care system in the Commonwealth or high out-of-pocket costs for patients.” In determining an upper payment limit, the Board will consider a broad range of factors, including pharmaceutical manufacturer input, allowing companies the opportunity to justify the price of the drug under review:
“Relevant information for conducting an affordability review may include any document or research related to the manufacturer’s selection of the introductory price or price increase of the prescription drug product, including life-cycle management, net average prices in the Commonwealth, market competition and context, projected revenue, patient assistance programs specific to a prescription drug product, estimated or actual manufacturer price concessions in the market, the estimated value or cost effectiveness of the prescription drug product, and other information as determined by the Board.”
In addition, the claim that upper payment limits would hinder medical innovation for life-threatening diseases is a threat touted by pharmaceutical companies to scare patients. The reality is they have wide profit margins, specifically on cancer treatments, and they spend more on predatory television advertisements than they do on research, allowing them to reduce the cost of certain medicines and maintain their research and development budgets.
Freedom Virginia co-Executive Director Rhena Hicks released the following statement:
“Rather than read the bill, Governor Youngkin took the word of his Big Pharma donors and vetoed the legislation for a second year in a row. Contrary to his bogus concerns, the bill would ensure a data-based, fact-driven approach to lowering the cost of medicine for Virginians. By ensuring that health care experts, patients and manufacturers all have a voice in the process, the Prescription Drug Affordability Board would take a fair approach to an unfair problem. We look forward to lowering the cost of medicine under a new administration next year.” |
