This is part of our Cardinal Way project on promoting civil discussions. This installment consists of this opinion piece in favor of the bill creating a Prescription Drug Affordability Board and another that is opposed. What’s your experience with drug prices? Do you think this board is a good idea or a bad idea? Tell us what you think by filling out this brief survey.
The cost of medicine is one of the most dangerous burdens for Virginia families, especially when costs are skyrocketing across the economy. One out of four Virginians who depend on prescription drugs choose not to take them solely because they cannot afford them. While hardworking families pick and choose which necessities they can afford, big pharmaceutical companies are seeing record profits.
The fight to lower the cost of medicine is a personal one for me; my child has type-1 diabetes, an illness that requires constant care and uninterrupted access to medication. Skipping medication can have both short-term and lifetime consequences for diabetics. I want to ensure that no parent has to worry if their child is getting the medicine they need and that no person or family has to sacrifice rent or groceries in order to fill their prescription.
This year, I reintroduced legislation to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) because we need a solution for Virginia’s skyrocketing cost of medicine. In 2023, pharmaceutical companies hiked the list prices for 112 drugs nationwide at a rate higher than the rate of inflation. And in a 2020 study, Altarum found that Virginians spent 36% more per person on prescription drugs than the national average.
The Board is an independent body of health and medical experts appointed by the governor, House and Senate who use proven, data-based strategies that are already working in other states to lower prescription drug prices. A PDAB will consider a broad range of economic factors and allow pharmaceutical manufacturers the opportunity to justify existing drug costs when determining upper payment limits for up to 12 high-cost drugs a year.
Pharmaceutical companies are working overtime to convince Virginians that a Prescription Drug Affordability Board would stifle research and development and that the burden of lowering costs would force them to pull certain drugs off the market in Virginia. According to the Richmond-Times Dispatch, the pharmaceutical industry doubled its lobbying investment from 2023, spending over $400,000 in 2024 to fight PDAB legislation. These big companies are using empty threats and scare tactics to keep medicine expensive.
I am proud of the bipartisan momentum the Prescription Drug Affordability Board legislation gained in the General Assembly this year. I am especially grateful to my colleagues Delegate Ellen Campbell and Senator Mark Peake for joining the bill as co-patrons. Lowering the cost of medicine matters to Virginians. A 2023 AARP poll showed that 75% of Virginia voters support the creation of a PDAB, including 85% of Democrats, 71% of Republicans and 70% of independents.
These big pharmaceutical companies are not worried about Virginians; they’re worried about their bottom line. The General Assembly stood with hardworking people when it passed this legislation a few weeks ago. Virginians must be prioritized over pharmaceutical companies’ profits. I urge the governor to take this bill over the finish line and sign the Prescription Drug Affordability Board bill to lower the cost of medicine for Virginians.
Karrie Delaney represents part of Fairfax County in the House of Delegates. She is a Democrat.
