(Hernandez) Appropriations: 12-0-8
co-author: Chiu
The skyrocketing prices of life-saving prescription drugs (such as EpiPens, that increased in price almost 125% between 2007 and 2014) are hurting patients that need them. In 2013, households across the United States were spending about $858 per person on prescriptions – almost double the cost of many other developed nations. SB1010 would have required prescription drug manufacturers to give notice of price increases to health insurers and pharmacies. Manufacturers also would have needed to provide reports on how the costs of these drugs were affecting patient premiums. Unfortunately, thirty Big Pharma companies spent millions on corporate lobbyists and successfully killed this modest bill.