RICHMOND, Va. — In case you missed it, news outlets from across the Commonwealth covered the Jan. 9th roll-out of HB 570 and SB 274, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to lower the cost of medicine for Virginians by creating a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. The announcement follows Governor Youngkin’s request for Democrats and Republicans to work together to address Virginia’s cost-of-living in 2024. A recording of the press conference can be viewed HERE.
A bipartisan coalition of Virginia lawmakers, aiming to help lower prices, announced plans during the conference to reintroduce a bill to develop a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. Should it pass this session, Virginia would join the likes of Colorado and Minnesota as the ninth state in the country to develop such a board.
The board, which would be made of independent health experts, would be tasked with reviewing the cost of certain prescription drugs and determining whether manufacturers charge too much.
During a press conference Tuesday, bill patron Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, said the legislation is an example of both parties finding common ground, which Youngkin emphasized following November’s elections.
For example, Stanley, the Republican senator from Franklin County, has cosponsored a proposal with Deeds, his Democratic colleague from Charlottesville, aimed at lowering the cost of medicine by setting limits on how much Virginia consumers would pay for certain medications.
“Too often we go to the General Assembly and write bills that may just affect our region or one interest, but this is one of those bills that’s going to affect all of us at one time or another,” (Sen. Bill) Stanley said last year when announcing he planned to carry the bill.
Speakers included Mara Shapiro, a resident of Charlottesville who needs medication that costs $20,000 a month.
“It’s really unfortunate that we have such really great drugs available to treat these autoimmune diseases that affect millions of people and millions of Virginians,” she said. “And it is a drug that is priced so highly that it is completely out of reach for a lot of patients and that shouldn’t be the case.”
