Broad coalition backs increased market oversight and new drug‑pricing tools; industry warns of risks

BOSTON — Dozens of consumer advocates, disability groups, independent pharmacists, the attorney general’s office and insurers urged the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing to advance legislation (including Senate Bill 868, House Bill 1361 and Senate Bill 904) that would strengthen state market oversight of hospitals and the pharmaceutical supply chain and give regulators new tools to address high drug prices.

Supporters described a tangled drug supply chain made up of manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), insurers and wholesalers and said the bill package would give the Health Policy Commission (HPC) and the Division of Insurance expanded authority to monitor and, in targeted cases, constrain outlier prices. "Prescription drug costs are health care’s biggest open secret," Ashley Blackburn of Health Care for All testified. "Transparency alone will not stop unaffordable prices."

Key provisions discussed included early notice requirements for steep price increases, expanded HPC review authority that would include commercial market impacts, and a proposed "upper payment limit" (UPL) authority that would allow the…