California bill aims to ensure specialized prescription drugs are affordable

California Assembly Bill 339 aims to rein in prescription-drug prices to ease the economic impact on those with chronic medical conditions who need expensive drugs, but critics are warning that it also would increase insurance premiums for everyone else and make it harder for insurers to obtain lower-cost drugs.The bill would limit what a consumer pays to a $250 copay limit for a 30-day supply.

The bill passed the Assembly 48-30 in June, then passed along party lines in the Senate Health Committee, 7-2, soon afterward after witnesses testified to its pros and cons. The bill is back in committee for further consideration and any amendments.



“AB339 is designed to ensure consumer access to vital medications,” the bill’s author, Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-Dist. 24), said. “Californians with cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, lupus and other serious and chronic conditions need high-cost specialty drugs. Today, consumers with these serious health conditions can be asked to pay as much as $6,600 for a month’s prescription for a single drug.”

Those in opposition to the bill are focusing on the increased premiums that the bill would cause.

“Our opposition to this bill is fairly simple,” Nick Louizos, a representative for the California Association of Heath Plans, said. “Legislatively designing health benefits increases premiums. We can legislatively create the best benefit packages in the world, but if no one can afford them, that’s pretty useless from our perspective. This has been demonstrated time and time again. The independent analysis of the introduced version of this bill does show premium increases of close to $400 million on individuals and employers.”