A majority of Virginia voters in a recent survey supported the creation of a prescription drug affordability board to rein in costs.
Two-thirds of the responding voters regularly take prescription medications, according to the poll sponsored by AARP, an advocacy organization for people 50 and older. But many are concerned about the increasing costs of their medication, with more than one-third of voters reporting not filling their prescription at some point.
The Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University surveyed 1,000 registered Virginia voters in June and found that 85% of Democrats, 71% of Republicans and 70% of independents who responded support a state board to regulate the cost of prescription drugs.
“This isn’t a partisan issue, this is something we can all get behind,” Jim Dau, the state director for AARP Virginia, said at a media briefing on Tuesday.
Del. Karrie Delaney, a Democrat representing parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties, said the price of prescription drugs are rising at an “astronomical rate” relative to inflation. She said her daughter has Type 1 diabetes, so she understands the expenses and has heard stories of families rationing insulin.
Earlier this year, Delaney introduced a bill that would have established a prescription drug affordability board, but it died in committee.
AARP Virginia had supported the legislation, but opponents, including those in the industry, said it would not address the root causes of high drug prices and could have unintentional consequences on drug availability and research and development.
Delaney and Sen. Bill Stanley, a Republican representing the 20th District in Southside Virginia, said they plan to sponsor the measure in the 2024 legislative session.
“Seeing the data come out of this poll, I think validates what many of us already know when we talk to our constituents,” Delaney said.
When asked if capping prescription drug prices would stifle innovation from pharmaceutical companies, Delaney and Stanley said the board would offer more transparency regarding costs and noted the large amount of money pharmaceutical companies spend on marketing each year.
“To sacrifice lives for the sake of profit is just something that I’m not going to be listening to,” Stanley said.
Stanley said he represents a more rural area that has a lower family income than the state average. This, he said, leads to families “making life or death decisions almost on a monthly basis, where they must make a decision to put aside the money for that prescription drug, or put food on the table or a roof over their heads.”
Dr. Rommaan Ahmad, a physician in Alexandria and the state lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care, said insurances are requiring lengthier authorization processes for prescription medications and, even then, patients still might not have the cost covered. She said patients deserve to know why their needed medicine is getting more expensive.
“When a particular medication doubles or triples in price, it’s not two or three times more effective,” Ahmad said.
A board is needed to regulate the pharmaceutical industry and hold big companies accountable, she said.
Jillian Goodwin, a 31-year-old Norfolk resident, said she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 3 months. The chronic disease affects different parts of her body, including her respiratory and digestive system and can lead to life-threatening complications as she gets older.
Goodwin said she takes about 20 prescription medications every day just to stay alive. But the cost of her medications, along with doctors appointments, supplies and food needed to meet her nutritional needs “compounds together,” she said.
In the past, Goodwin said she stayed at a job she was unhappy with because she needed health insurance. But without insurance and copay assistance programs to help keep the costs down, she said she “wouldn’t be here today.”
“What good is a medical marvel and a revolutionary breakthrough if people who need it cannot afford it?” she said.
Gabby Jimenez, gabrielle.jimenez@virginiamedia.com
