New Connecticut law caps price growth for many prescription drugs
Connecticut Democrats are touting a new law that ties the prices of generic prescription drugs to inflation.
“We’re all trying to figure out what we can do to bend the cost curve,” Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) said.
The law, which took effect Jan. 1, caps the growth of generic drugs to inflation. Drug distributors that violate the cap could face fines of up to 80% of the profits earned by the price increase.
The Department of Revenue Services will issue an annual report in March to identify violators.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of insurance you have,” AARP State Director Nora Duncan said. “Whether you’re Medicaid, whether you’re self-insured, whether you’re Connecticut regulated, it’s going to help everyone.”
Tom Wilbur, a spokesman for pharmaceutical industry lobbying organization PhRMA, said the law could hurt research and development of future drugs.
He also said lawmakers should instead set their sights on pharmaceutical benefit managers, middlemen for insurance companies.
PBMs are supposed to negotiate lower drug prices, but have been accused of pocketing the savings for themselves and being one of the reasons prices have increased.
“They are driving up costs for patients,” Wilbur said in a statement. “Policymakers in Connecticut should focus on safeguarding patient access and affordability from the abusive practices of these middlemen.”
Rep. Tracy Marra (R-Darien) also said the law doesn’t take into account some of the contributing factors to drug prices.
“There’s others that, that have maybe stability issues,” Marra said. “Maybe they require refrigeration.”
She also said the legislature should instead focus on things like bulk purchases of medicine for state-run insurance plans, reigning in PBMs, and importing some drugs from Canada.
“It’s not going to be any drug and all drugs, it’s probably very specific,” she said. “Maybe it’ll be like HIV drugs or something very specific.”
Those were among the many recommendations a task force suggested in 2024. Lesser, co-chairman of the Human Services Committee, said he’s open to all ideas.
“We’re going to be having those conversations with our republican counterparts where there are areas of agreement, but there’s a lot more work to do,” he said.
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