During the 2017 Oregon Legislature session, Senator Steiner Hayward and Representative Rob Nosse introduced legislation on prescription drug advertising that would have required manufacturers to disclose prices in any advertisement for prescription drugs in Oregon. The bill was introduced on February 14, 2017 and was referred to the Health Care Committee. On March 9, 2017, the Health Care Committee held a public hearing, but when the legislature adjourned on July 7, 2017, the bill remained in Committee, and therefore, it died on the vine.
On January 22, 2018, Representative Nosse introduced HB 4005, “Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act,” a supposedly simplified version of the 2017 price transparency bill. The bill, which is expected to be officially introduced on February 5, 2018, requires prescription drug manufacturers to annually report information to the Department of Consumer and Business Services regarding the prices of prescription drugs and the costs associated with developing and marketing prescription drugs. It also authorizes the Department to impose civil penalties on manufacturers that fail to comply with reporting requirements.
Under the language of the bill, manufacturers would have to justify the price of any prescription drug that goes up ten percent or more over a calendar year if the monthly cost is over $100.
The proposal would also require manufacturers to report on new specialty drugs that have price tags of $600 or more per month/dosage and to give detailed information on patient assistance programs.
Health insurers would need to report to the Department of Consumer and Business Services the 25 most frequently prescribed drugs, 25 most costly drugs and 25 drugs with highest year-over-year increases and impact of prescription drug prices on premiums.
Some required reporting items in the bill are:
- The drug’s price history
- Factors and justification that contributed to the increase
- The name of any generic version
- The research and development costs paid with public funds
- Costs associated with manufacturing, advertising, distributing and ongoing safety-effectiveness research of the drug
- The ten highest prices paid for the drug in other countries
- Total sales and profits from the drug in the previous year
Interestingly, there is bipartisan support for the bill; Representative Ron Noble, a Republican, plans to co-sponsor it in the House and Senator Dennis Linthicum, a Republican, plans to co-sponsor the legislation in the Senate with Senator Lee Beyer, a Democrat.
“This is more of a first step, instead of a very aggressive, comprehensive approach,” Nosse said. “We’re trying to move in a fashion where members of the other party are also comfortable.”
This bill resembles the California bill that California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law in October 2017. The California bill is considered to be the most comprehensive bill centered around pharmaceutical pricing in the nation.
Unfortunately, we are continuing to see more of these transparency bills that are more focused on shaming the market on drug pricing than actually helping to resolve any pricing issues.