Michigan’s Bold New Solution to High Drug Prices
This is how your state could fight Big Pharma.
There’s a new bill in Michigan that would allow the state to cap the prices of wildly overpriced prescription drugs. It could be a model for states nationwide to bring down drug prices and challenge the power of the pharmaceutical industry.
What’s happening?
According to a recent poll, nearly 60% of Michiganders over the age of 50 report having not filled a prescription due to an outrageous price tag.
Nobody is immune to the soaring cost of drugs — not when the average price of a newly launched pharmaceutical is $257,000.
But there’s an emerging effort to rein in pharmaceutical companies’ greed. In Michigan State Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet is leading the charge.
Senator McDonald-Rivet is the sponsor of Senate Bill 485, legislation that would create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board in Michigan. The board would be empowered to set price limits when Big Pharma gets out of hand.
Michigan would be the sixth state to enact a board with the power to set upper payment limits for drugs determined to be unaffordable. Colorado and Maryland’s boards are getting closer to setting payment limits for the first time. The more states that launch their own boards, the more effective they’ll be.
