SB 1180 – Relating to Consumer Protections from Nonmedical Prescription Drug Formularies

On Tuesday, April 23, SB 1180 by Senator Debbie Mayfield (R-Melbourne) was heard before the Senate Rules Committee and was reported favorably with 15 yeas and 1 nay. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation with the adoption of Amendment 635224.

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. 

With the adoption of Amendment 635224 to the underlying bill, this bill now levels the playing field by requiring that a pharmaceutical company must lock in their prices up front – like any other industry – and, in return, the insurance company can’t drop the drug (except for safety reasons). 

SB 1180 will now move to the Senate floor.

AIF supports legislation that keeps in place cost controls and prevents increased healthcare costs for Florida businesses.