September 19, 2023
Maryland Matters
Danielle Brown
Excerpt:
“Other speakers at the event were U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s) and AARP State Director for Maryland Hank Greenberg, who are supportive of additional measures to reduce prescription drug costs.
“We’re going to work with you closely as well as all the partners to build on this success by supporting legislation to expand the board’s authority in the upcoming 2024 Maryland General Assembly session,” Greenberg told DeMarco during the webinar. “It’s the most important thing that we need to do to make sure everyone benefits from the work that they’re doing right now.”
The affordability board’s task to reduce drug prices goes hand-in-hand with federal efforts. Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act place price caps on insulin at $35 for those on Medicare, the federal health insurance plan for retirees. In addition, Medicare can now negotiate the costs of high-price prescription drugs, and recently announced 10 medications that will go under the first round of price-lowering negotiations.
But the state board is still working out details on how exactly to bring down the costs of drug prices for government employees, and it is still not clear when or if Marylanders will see broader cost savings or even which drugs are in consideration.”
Read the full article at Marylandmatters.org
Last modified: September 20, 2023
