Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The latest attempt to impose price controls on prescription drugs in Illinois has passed a House committee.
“A prescription drug affordability board, or PDAB,” said sponsoring State Rep. Nabeela Syed (pictured) (D-Palatine), “is an independent body with the authority to establish upper payment limits, which is the maximum that any entity can purchase or reimburse for a drug.”
A representative of the pharmaceutical industry, Peter Fotos, said there is a simple reason to oppose the idea: it doesn’t work. “PDAB’s were first legislatively mandated in 2019; not one has lowered the price of drugs,” said Fotos during Wednesday’s committee hearing. “In fact, Virginia’s governor just this week vetoed Virginia’s PDAB bills.”
Furthermore, opponents say Syed’s bill fails to create enough oversight of a PDAB, such as placing it within a state agency or adequately spelling out how it would be implemented.
Opponents also attacked Syed’s characterization of PDAB as a “pilot program,” seeing as how this would last five years, As Fotos put it, “it’s a full regulatory program with a sunset.”
