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With prescription drug bills, Vermont lawmakers hope to lower pharmaceutical prices
Last edited Tue May 21, 2024, 06:12 AM - Edit history (1)
https://vtdigger.org/2024/05/21/with-prescription-drug-bills-vermont-lawmakers-hope-to-lower-pharmaceutical-prices/With prescription drug bills, Vermont lawmakers hope to lower pharmaceutical prices
Two bills aimed at helping residents afford and access prescription medication will soon cross Gov. Scott’s desk.
By Peter D'Auria
May 21, 2024, 6:01 am
Vermont lawmakers are hoping that new legislation headed to the desk of Gov. Phil Scott will help patients afford prescription drugs, as rising pharmaceutical prices push up health care costs across the state.
As legislators scrambled to wrap up the legislative session earlier this month, they passed two bills that aim to reform how prescription drugs are priced and distributed.
“We’ve known about the impact that skyrocketing prescription drug costs have had for years,” Rep. Mari Cordes, D-Lincoln, the clerk of the House Health Care committee, said in an interview. But “because there’s so much market consolidation and so much vertical and horizontal integration (of health care companies), it’s just been it’s been so hard to get at that and get inside the black box and have any real power to do anything about it.”
[...]
One of the bills, H.233, targets pharmacy benefit managers — aka PBMs — companies that administer prescription drug benefits for a health insurance company.
[..]
Two bills aimed at helping residents afford and access prescription medication will soon cross Gov. Scott’s desk.
By Peter D'Auria
May 21, 2024, 6:01 am
Vermont lawmakers are hoping that new legislation headed to the desk of Gov. Phil Scott will help patients afford prescription drugs, as rising pharmaceutical prices push up health care costs across the state.
As legislators scrambled to wrap up the legislative session earlier this month, they passed two bills that aim to reform how prescription drugs are priced and distributed.
“We’ve known about the impact that skyrocketing prescription drug costs have had for years,” Rep. Mari Cordes, D-Lincoln, the clerk of the House Health Care committee, said in an interview. But “because there’s so much market consolidation and so much vertical and horizontal integration (of health care companies), it’s just been it’s been so hard to get at that and get inside the black box and have any real power to do anything about it.”
[...]
One of the bills, H.233, targets pharmacy benefit managers — aka PBMs — companies that administer prescription drug benefits for a health insurance company.
[..]