Maryland Matters
October 22, 2024
Dr. Gerard Anderson
Excerpt:
“…The board selected the first six drugs based on multiple criteria, but one of the most important was the cost of the drug. There are six drugs on the initial list. These are all very expensive drugs that you see being advertised in newspapers, on TV and in social media every day. The data shows they have high out-of-pocket costs for each individual patient and for all patients.
The data I reviewed as a member of the Maryland PDAB shows that the Medicaid program is paying significant amounts for each of these six drugs and the state is paying a large amount for each of these drugs to provide health insurance for state and county employees.
Paying high prices for these drugs significantly limits access to these drugs and requires the state of Maryland to make difficult policy choices. Numerous studies have shown that 40% of the public has not filled a prescription because of the high costs of their prescription drugs. When the state provides prescription drug coverage to Medicaid recipients and to state and county employees, the state or county has fewer resources to provide more money for schools, police, environmental protection or other services.”
Read the full piece at MarylandMatters.org.
Last modified: October 24, 2024
