A bipartisan bill aimed at making prescription drugs more affordable in Virginia was vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin for the second consecutive year. The legislation sought to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to help regulate medication costs.
Local pharmacy representatives highlighted the impact of rising drug prices on both their operations and patients.
Medicine only works for patients who can afford it.
According to AARP, Virginians pay 36 percent higher prices for prescription drugs than the national average. The Local Office on Aging noted that seniors bear the highest burden of these costs.
“A lot of seniors, sadly, they have to choose between food and prescriptions,” said Ron Boyd, president and CEO of the Local Office on Aging.
10 News reached out to Governor Youngkin’s office to ask why he vetoed the bill. In a statement, Youngkin expressed concerns about the proposed legislation, saying it “Risks limiting patient access to essential medication by prioritizing costs over medical necessity. Affordability of prescription drugs is a critical issue, but this proposal would instead compromise patient welfare in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
However, the Local Office on Aging argued that the board, composed of independent health and medical experts, would have had the authority to set payment limits on specific prescription drugs if pharmaceutical companies charged excessively.
Boyd added, “I think what was so encouraging about the establishment of the board is that it would give some oversight and call for transparency among pharmaceutical companies, and that’s what we need.”
Boyd said now that the bill was vetoed, seniors are once again footing the bill.
“Well, with the veto of establishing that, it’s going to impact them because things are pretty much going to stay the same. With a lot of seniors most seniors are on Medicare. Of course, they’re on a fixed income. They’re on Medicare, Medicare Part D programs. Of course, a lot things can change with their health in the course of 12 months. And once you’re on that plan, if medication changes and you’re on a different kind of medication that may not have been the most cost-effective in the program that they elected to be in at that time, then they’re just forced to pay out of pocket. And a lot of those medications are just extremely high,” Boyd said.
Tim Lucas, co-owner and pharmacist at Down Home Pharmacy, emphasized the necessity of the board as a voice against large pharmaceutical companies. “The accessibility will go up, the transparency will go up, and in doing that, we can avoid a lot of pharmacy deserts that have happened across the state,” he said. “There have been pharmacies closing left and right, especially independently owned ones, making it much tougher for patients to get their medications.”
Lucas noted that not only are patients being priced out, but local pharmacies are also struggling under financial pressure.
Down Home Pharmacy is among many urging Virginians to contact local legislators about the bill and to sign an online petition to reject the governor’s amendment.
Governor Youngkin’s full statement
“Pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 1724, establishing a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. I previously vetoed this legislation during the 2024 session.
This legislation risks limiting patient access to essential medication by prioritizing costs over medical necessity.
Affordability of prescription drugs is a critical issue, but this proposal would instead compromise patient welfare in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The proposed authority granted to the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) would allow medication availability to be determined based solely on cost considerations rather than accounting for the expert opinions of healthcare professionals and the unique medical needs of individual patients. This approach could limit access to treatments and hinder medical innovation, especially for life-threatening or rare diseases.
The implications of the proposed upper payment limits (UPLs) are detrimental for patients with life-threatening diseases such as cancer. Life-saving treatments often entail the use of high-cost drugs targeted by these affordability measures; bringing down the costs of these drugs will require full transparency of prices and discounts and more competition and economic freedom, not price controls.
PDABs enacted in other states, including for example Maryland and Colorado, demonstrate, that due to the pharmaceutical supply chain’s complexity, imposing arbitrary UPLs will limit access to life-saving pharmaceuticals and harm patients’ health, without producing the savings promised by the supporters of the legislation.
Accordingly, I veto this bill.”