Perscription Drug Affordability expansion to wait until 2025 session in Maryland

MARYLAND- Advocates for affordable prescription drugs in Maryland say a major expansion of these state’s prescription drug affordability board has been withdrawn in 2024 and will be re-introduced for the 2025 legislative session.

Advocates Maryland Health Care For All says that a measure to expand the authority of the state’s prescription drug affordability boards to set price caps for all drugs, will not be moved forward.

This after members of democratic leadership said they wanted to see how the board would function, in its current role of setting prices on the state and county level.

Advocates say the setback comes- as the board would have already been setting those prices if a veto from the previous administration did not push back their timing.

“Originally they were supposed to do that by January 1, 2023, after which we were expecting the General Assembly to expand their authority to make high-cost drugs more affordable for everybody, Unfortunately, former Governor Larry Hogan vetoed a bill that was necessary to fund the board, and by the time the legislature overrode that veto, it delayed a lot of what the board could do,” said MDHCFA Director Vinny DeMarco.

The bill which will now be reintroduced in 2025 would have let the board target prescription prices for specific drugs, as well as set per-person caps on total payments per month on prescription medications.