Key findings

1. Establishing a drug affordability board doesn’t guarantee lower prices for patients. It will limit the availability of life-saving drugs in Washington.

2. To help them craft responsible policy on a complex issue it doesn’t fully understand, lawmakers passed drug transparency legislation. A required report is overdue.

3. Under SB 5532 , a government-appointed board of five members would be authorized to arbitrarily set price controls on prescription drugs and impose penalties.

4. This is not patient-centered legislation. It could result in drug manufacturers withdrawing medicines from the state market, leaving Washingtonians without access to them.

5. Price controls lead to rationing and limited supply. In this case, policymakers would control the supply of vital medications that people want and need.

Introduction

State lawmakers want a government-appointed, five-person board to impose price controls on prescription drugs sold in Washington state. The board could also assess penalties. It is considering Senate Bill 5532.1 The price controls proposed in this legislation could make some medicines inaccessible to patients.

This Legislative Memo reviews the text of SB 5532 and assesses its impact on affordability, access to care and quality of care patients receive in the practice of medicine in Washington state.

Click here to read the full Legislative Memo.