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RELEASE: House HHS Finance Division holds public hearing in Rochester to address high prescription drug prices

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

ROCHESTER, Minn, - Today, the Minnesota House Health and Human Services Finance Division held a public hearing at the University of Minnesota Rochester. The hearing, part of the House’s Mini-Session in southeastern Minnesota, highlighted skyrocketing prescription drug prices and solutions to help lower them. Committee chair Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL – Rochester) was excited to have legislators tackling this issue in her home community.  

“Rochester is home to a great deal of innovation in health care, and these advancements improve life for people around the world,” Rep. Liebling said. “For Minnesotans, prescription drugs cost too much, and their prices are increasing too quickly. Today, legislators heard directly from members of the public and local experts as we work on solutions to solve this problem that is impacting too many people.”

The committee heard status updates on several bills introduced during the 2019 legislative session which would reduce the massive prices Minnesotans must pay for prescription medications. Rep. John Lesch (DFL – Saint Paul) is the author HF 4, which would prohibit price gouging of prescription drugs. The bill would prevent manufacturers and wholesalers from charging an unconscionable price for essential prescription drugs, and the allow Attorney General to bring enforcement actions for unconscionable pricing.

HF 1246, legislation authored by Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL – Deephaven) is the Prescription Drug Transparency Act, which would require drug manufacturers to report information on drug prices and when increases exceed certain limits, and when new drugs exceed certain price thresholds.

Rep. Hunter Cantrell (DFL – Savage) introduced HF 1523, which would create a common prescription drug purchasing program for people enrolled in Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, and for enrollees of participating health plan companies. By taking advantage of the state’s purchasing power through negotiations, Minnesotans could experience significant cost savings.

The panel heard from experts on the issue, including Mayo Clinic professor Dr. Vincent Rajkumar who provided a broad overview of pharmaceutical drug prices. Eric Tichy, Mayo Clinic’s Vice Chair of Pharmacy Supply, gave an overview of Civica, a not-for-profit generic drug and pharmaceutical company founded to address drug shortages and high prices. Members of the public were also invited to share their experiences and the impact high drug prices have had on their lives.

Department of Commerce officials gave an update on implementation of the new pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) licensure reforms adopted during the 2019 legislative session. PBMs serve as middlemen between insurers and drug companies, developing lists of covered drugs (formularies) that they offer to pharmacies. Prior to the new law, they operated with very little transparency and no oversight, which led to higher prices for consumers.

While in Rochester, the committee also toured the UMR campus, Mayo Clinic and the Center for Regenerative Medicine’s Advanced Biomanufacturing facility.