States Eye Expanded Drug Price Review Boards as Costs Rise
In response to rising drug prices, some states have launched prescription drug review boards designed to make medicines more affordable. So far, the boards control prices mainly for states’ Medicaid and state employee plans, but some states are considering whether to set up panels that would also work to set upper payment limits for prescription drugs in commercial insurance.
A new report by professional services firm Manatt found that 17 states so far have implemented or introduced legislation for boards that exercise some influence on drug prices, primarily in the realm of plans controlled by state governments — state Medicaid plans and commercial plans in which the state government is the plan sponsor. The report found that six states — Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Ohio — have such boards in place.
