The Legislature is considering a number of bills to address affordability of prescription drugs. These bills have passed the Senate or the House:

• SB 6087 (Keiser) would cap the out-of-pocket cost to patients for a 30-day supply of insulin at $100 per month.
• SB 6088 (Keiser) would establish a prescription drug affordability board that would review prices to see if maximum price caps are needed.
• SB 6113 (Keiser) would create a centralized purchasing process for insulin, based on the approach used by the state to purchase childhood vaccines.
• HB 2662 (Maycumber) would cap the out-of-pocket cost to patients for a 30-day supply of insulin at $100 per month, establish a Total Cost of Insulin workgroup, and would allow the Health Care Authority to become a drug wholesaler or pharmacy benefit manager, or purchase prescription drugs from other states or in coordination with other states.
• HB 2464 (Gildon) would limit what an insurance carrier or pharmacy benefit manager may require a person to pay for a covered prescription medication at the point of sale to the lesser of the applicable cost sharing amount or the amount the purchaser would pay for the medication if purchased without using a health plan.

Find out about these and more bills in our Legislative Update #2.

–Kristin Babik