Support HB19-1131: Prescription Drug Cost Education YES
Representative Jaquez Lewis & Senator Winter
The cost of prescription drugs is increasingly unaffordable which leads to over 500,000 Coloradoans not filling their prescriptions each year. Despite the availability of affordable generic options, physicians don’t always know the actual cost of the medication being prescribed.
| House Bill 19-1131: When a Pharma rep goes into a health care prescriber’s office, along with the legally approved FDA language on drug efficacy and safety, they will now be required to share the cost Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC1) of the drug.
1WAC is the industry standard https://www.drugs.com/article/average-wholesale-price-awp.html |
Colorado Health Institute Annual Health Snapshot June 2018
Physicians are not given cost savings comparisons when brand name drugs are being marketed.
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Name brand prescriptions can be exponentially more expensive, which can make the difference between accessing care or remaining in poor health for patients. The cost saving that generic options provide patients is clear when prices are compared side by side.
Requiring drug manufacturers to supply the same cost information for other drugs in the same therapeutic class will provide physicians a complete range of information about the drugs they prescribe. This will also allow physicians to take cost information into consideration when making prescribing decisions, enabling them to consider lower-cost alternatives and helping to contain prescription drug costs. |
Evidence shows that prescribing physicians tend to be unaware of the high costs of brand name drugs3 and overestimate the costs of generics.4 This bill will help to educate prescribers about the current prices of brand medications and provide healthcare providers with up to date cost information about both brand name and generic drugs in the same class.
HB19-1131 requires drug manufacturers to provide in writing the wholesale acquisition cost of a prescription drug to a physician, nurse practitioner, pharmacist or any individual prescribing a medication with whom the drug manufacturer is sharing information concerning the drug. The bill will also require the drug manufacturer to provide educational materials containing the acquisition cost of other prescription drugs in the same class (at least three medications if available).
3 American Economic Association, 2018 https://www.aeaweb.org/research/physicians-cost-sensitivity-patient-income-copay-statin
4 American Medical Association, 2002 https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/cost-effective-prescribing/2002-11
Organizations Supporting This Bill
RxPlus Independent Pharmacies, Colorado Pharmacists Society, Denver Health, Colorado Academy of Physicians Assistants, Healthier Colorado, Colorado Dental Association, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. Questions? Call Representative Jaquez Lewis (303)866-2920
email: sonya.jaquez.lewis.house(at)state.co.us
