Colorado Conservatives and Big Pharma Firms Fight Bill to Lower Prescription Drug Prices
A bill intended to reign in the rising costs of prescription drugs is once again drawing opposition from Big Pharma and conservative advocacy groups. During a panel discussion on proposed legislation limiting major price increases for prescription drugs Tuesday, state Rep. Matt Soper (R-Delta) said a “price-setting” board is a “leading priority” of Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO).
Soper was referring to proposed legislation, introduced Monday by Democrats and supported by Polis, that would create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB), composed of non-partisan experts to investigate cost increases of some prescription drugs and set limits on how much prices could be raised.
A PDAB would address only the highest-cost medications, leaving drug companies and purchasers to continue negotiating rates for the vast majority of prescription drugs, as they do now.
“The other thing we’re going to hear about is a price-setting board,” Soper said during the panel, hosted by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Colorado, a conservative organization funded by the Koch brothers. “It’s replicating what Europe has, I’m scared to death of it, to tell you the truth … because we could definitely see that it would have a chilling effect both on innovators, drug entrepreneurs, and the free market.”
Read more: https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2021/03/colorado-conservatives-and-big-pharma-fight-bill-to-lower-prescription-drug-prices/35026/