Mass. bill would create first state system to cap drug prices

State legislation introduced in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts would be the first in

the nation to cap prescription drug prices. A coalition of health insurers including the

Americaês Health Insurance Plans coalition and consumers pushed for the bill. Pharmaceutical

companies would be required to detail what they spent on research, production and marketing,

and a state agency would be able to cap drug prices.

Similar bills requiring drug companies to reveal their R&D costs have been introduced in

California, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Readers may recall that several years ago, proposed Medicare reforms in Congress would have

allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, but the

measure was withdrawn from the final bill. Prescription drugs are the fastest-growing expense in

health care.