The federal government has invested billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in the research that led directly and indirectly to the development and production of so many of these drugs. I think that’s a wise investment since the public health has always been a national priority, but the minute that capital was invested into the process, the idea of the free market disappeared entirely from the discussion. The minute regulations, patent protections, government grants, congressional-directed spending, and so much more government influence entered the equation, rightly or wrongly. The idea of the free market no longer applied. Since the American taxpayers are the ones who made that investment, there should be a dividend in terms of more affordable access to those drugs. It’s unconscionable in my mind that those within the nation who supported the development and production of the most incredible body of medical advancement the world has ever seen would pay more than anyone else to access the benefits of those very prescription drugs.
This board isn’t about setting prices, it’s about reviewing specific drugs under specific circumstances—where our citizens, frankly, aren’t getting as good a deal as everyone else. I think, as we look to level the playing field across the world, this is just one program we seem to need in order to stand up for our own residents.
Senator Irwin’s statement is as follows:
What we have before us today is legislation that seeks to address one of the most important problems facing our residents here in Michigan, and that is the epidemic of high prescription drug prices. This is a huge problem in my district. I don’t want to presume anything about your districts, but if your district is like mine, you’ve been hearing regularly from residents who are frustrated with the high cost of drug prices and the associated high cost of insurance premiums. We have people who are unable to afford their insurance. We have people who are unable to afford their co-pays.
We heard yesterday testimony from doctors who are saying that they would prescribe a course of treatment; they would prescribe medicine for individuals who were simply unable to fill those prescriptions, and, as a result, would not take those prescriptions and would end up later in greater misery, incurring greater cost to the system, showing up in our emergency departments. We heard yesterday from insurers who said that runaway drug prices are the largest driver of increases in our health insurance premiums. Out of control drug prices are driving up healthcare costs—they’re causing people to split pills in half or not take medicine, causing conditions of our residents to get worse, driving up costs in our ER, and it’s a disaster. It’s a disaster that I want to thank and send appreciation to my colleagues who sponsored this legislation, because they’re trying to do something about a problem that is central to the needs of our residents.
One of the things we know about the healthcare system here in America is that it’s not a free market. Our healthcare system is a rigged market. It’s a system whereby the public invests, and private interests profit. In a system like that, it’s essential that we create a board, like this prescription drug advisory board, that has as its mission to identify those outlier cases, those drugs that are driving costs, those drugs that are the ones where our customers and our residents are getting gouged when they seek to fill their prescriptions. I think it’s an obligation of this Legislature to form a board like this, to go out there and look for the worst abuses in the prescription drug industry, and to make sure that those worst abuses are reigned in. Putting an upper limit on the cost of drugs when those drug prices are rising unreasonably, when the prices are being rigged to increase the profits of drug manufacturers at the expense of our residents—those are exactly the cases where we should make sure that those abuses are identified, that the public is made aware of those price gougings , and that we set an upper limit to make sure that our residents are not continually abused by this industry that charges lower prices all around the world but drives their profit up here in states like Michigan.
So once again, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. High prescription drug prices are hurting my residents, they’re hurting your residents, and it’s time we do something about it.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 4, entitled
A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled “The insurance code of 1956,” (MCL 500.100 to 500.8302) by adding section 3406tt.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: