Drug Transparency in Oregon?

Recently we have seen several articles with the Drug Price Transparency Bill (OR House Bill 4005) that passed the Oregon Senate and is now headed to the Governor. The bill requires drug manufacturers to report marketing and research costs to the Department of Consumer and Business Services for drugs with a base price of more than $100 and that goes up by at least 10 percent in one year. Companies could face civil penalties if they fail to comply.

As you will see, with the continual rising cost of prescription drugs it pushes health insurance premiums higher. In fact, you might be surprised to learn the breakdown for each dollar that is being spent on premiums:

As stated in the OR House Bill 4005: “from 1991 to 2014 in Oregon, prescription drug spending increased 7.2 percent annually, on average, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Nationally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects prescription drug expenditures to increase by six percent annually from 2018-2025.

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, most Americans would favor action to keep drug prices down:

Whether at a State or Federal level we will need to continue to look at approaches like this if we hope to curtail the prescription costs in our healthcare.

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Ready to learn about the drug transparency in Oregon? Contact us at get-benefits today to learn more.