AARP state offices and volunteers were critical to the creation of PDABs in Maryland, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington and elsewhere, and AARP continues to support the development of these boards and state efforts to address high prescription drug costs.<\/p>\n
The federal 2022 prescription drug law allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices<\/a> with manufacturers for a select number of drugs each year \u2014 a move that is expected to save enrollees $1.5 billion this year. But Medicaid<\/a> and commercial insurers are left out of this opportunity to set more affordable prices, says Gerard Anderson, a professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal government and the states, but each state operates its own Medicaid program within federal guidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the vast majority of drugs, payers and patients are sort of left on their own,\u201d Kesselheim adds. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s what the states are responding to,\u201d by forming their own PDABs.<\/p>\n 2. The boards can take different approaches to lowering costs<\/p>\n Each state\u2019s board operates differently, depending on the legislation that established it.<\/p>\n In Maryland, where Anderson serves on the board, the group identifies and reviews medications with high list prices that are unaffordable to many. Drugs that are commonly used by Maryland residents are given the highest priority, he says.<\/p>\n