HB 1363 – Relating to Consumer Protections from Nonmedical Prescription Drug Formularies

On Tuesday, March 26, HB 1363 by Representative Jayer Williamson (R-Pace) was heard in the House Health Market Reform Subcommittee and was reported favorably with 13 yeas and 1 nay.

A major driver of health care costs is the rising cost of medicines. Drug companies raise the prices of both new and old medicines at will. No government body—not the Federal Trade Commission, not the Food and Drug Administration, and not the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—have rules or laws that dictate or restrict the price a pharmaceutical company can set for a drug - and in most cases, there’s nothing that restricts how much a drug company can raise that price.

This bill would eliminate the only current force to counter the price increases on pharmaceuticals – the threat of losing insurance coverage, which helps push back on arbitrary price hikes. Handcuffing the negotiators who work hard to make sure drugs are affordable is bad public policy and will help make health insurance even more unaffordable.

HB 1363 will now move to the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee.

AIF supports the amendment that brings the bill closer inline to AIF’s position in reducing health care costs. AIF encourages the committee to continue working on the bill to reach a point where we can support it.