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House bill would expand Prescription Drug Affordability Board authority to set statewide price limits
Summary
Sponsors urged that the Prescription Drug Affordability Board be allowed to set upper payment limits for commercial plans as well as state and local governments; supporters cited high drug costs and international price gaps, while industry and patient witnesses warned of access risks and urged other reforms.
Vice Chair Bonnie Collison urged the House Health and Government Operations Committee to give a favorable report to House Bill 4-24, legislation to expand the authority of the Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board to set statewide upper payment limits (UPLs) for prescription drugs. Collison framed the bill as a tool to reduce drug prices for all Marylanders by allowing the board — created in 2019 and already working on government plans — to use its processes to set ceilings in the commercial market.
The bill’s sponsors said the board already has an established cost-review and stakeholder process and that expanding authority is the logical next step. “Between 2020 and 2024 the price to the State for two diabetes and heart drugs grew from $14.5 million to $29.3 million,” Vice Chair Bonnie Collison said, and she cited examples of U.S. list prices far above German prices for the same drug brands to illustrate the scale of the gap. Executive Director Andrew York of the Maryland Prescription…
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