Why we can't afford to lose the Prescription Drug Affordability Board
"In just one year, the PDAB identified $6 million in potential savings for our state." (Getty Images)
When 1 in 4 New Hampshire residents are rationing or skipping their prescription medications due to cost, we need to strengthen our efforts to make life-saving prescriptions more affordable — not weaken them. Yet that's exactly what some lawmakers are attempting to do by dismantling our strongest defense against skyrocketing prescription prices.
The New Hampshire Legislature's budget proposal, which has passed the House of Representatives and is currently being considered by the Senate, would completely defund the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB), our state's only independent, nonpartisan entity dedicated to addressing the rising costs of life-saving prescriptions that so many Granite Staters rely on.
The statistics around prescription prices are both alarming and personal. More than half of our residents (53%) are worried about affording their prescription medications, regardless of if they make less than $50,000 a year or more than $100,000 a year. Additionally, 80% believe that drug companies charge too much money. These aren't just statistics; they represent real Granite Staters struggling to choose between filling a necessary prescription and paying for groceries or rent.
The burden is particularly heavy on our older residents, who are expected to comprise nearly 30% of our population in the next 10 years. A 2024 New Hampshire survey found that 93% of adults aged 65 and older took at least one prescription medication regularly, with nearly one-third taking four or more. The same survey found that nearly 40% of people in New Hampshire have cut back in some way (food, fuel, electricity, etc.) due to the cost of prescription medications. Skipping critical medications isn't just a financial decision — it's a potentially life-threatening risk that can worsen chronic conditions and lead to costly emergency interventions.
New Hampshire's PDAB, established in 2020, is rooted in our state's values, like taking care of our own. The PDAB works for Granite State residents and taxpayers — not for drug companies, middlemen, or insurers.
Since its inception, the PDAB has brought much-needed transparency and accountability to the complex world of drug pricing, which has long operated in the shadows. It is working to identify ways to reduce the massive amounts our state spends on medications through public insurance programs and state employee benefit plans. For example, the PDAB has identified that the state is struggling with the same high-cost prescription drugs now negotiated by Medicare. As more high-cost drugs are negotiated for lower prices, the PDAB could make recommendations about how to leverage price negotiations at the federal level to achieve similar savings in New Hampshire.
In just one year, the PDAB identified $6 million in potential savings for our state. Currently, they are exploring a partnership with a discount card program that could save the state an average of $212 per prescription while protecting patient data and supporting independent pharmacies. Further, the PDAB identified that the state could realize savings by allowing pharmacies to substitute FDA-approved biosimilar biologic drugs; this measure was included in the House budget as a cost savings. These are tangible, meaningful interventions that directly impact our people and our communities.
Now is not the time to dismantle our PDAB. There is simply no other organization that can step in to provide the same level of oversight and insight into this critical area of our health care system. The PDAB has identified millions of dollars in savings, which far outweigh the PDAB's budget. To abandon the PDAB at this juncture is penny wise and pound foolish.
The PDAB is our only defense against rising prescription costs.
Stand with the 53% of residents who worry about medication costs. Stand with the 80% who recognize that drug companies are charging too much. Stand with the only strategy currently available to control prescription drug costs in our state.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Republicans defend cuts to Medicaid and renewable energy in Big Beautiful Bill: ‘absolutely out of control'
Key Republican senators pushed back Sunday against criticism of cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill, including Medicaid work restrictions and the elimination of many green energy subsidies. The Senate version of President Trump's signature tax and spending legislation imposes 80 hours a month work requirements on able-bodied adults, including those with children ages 15 and up. It also reduces the health care provider tax, which helps fund state Medicaid plans. Critics argue that those changes could result in millions of people losing access to Medicaid, which provides health care to over 70 million low-income Americans. 'There's 35 million people under the poverty line inside the United States, and there's 70 million people that are signed up for Medicaid,' Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told NBC's 'Meet the Press' Sunday. 'What we are focused on is making sure that Medicaid is there for people in the future that need it and get rid of the fraud, waste and abuse.' 5 Progressive activists have protested against the Medicaid reform provisions in the megabill. Getty Images 5 President Trump has lashed out at senators who have opposed advancing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Getty Images Medicaid reform is the largest source of savings in the megabill, with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimating the legislative bundle would reduce Medicaid costs by about $930 billion over the next decade. Several senators have been uneasy about the Medicaid reform in the Senate bill, which goes further than the House version of the megabill. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), for example, voted against proceeding with the bill Saturday, citing Medicaid as his top concern. 'I cannot support this bill in its current form. It would result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities,' Tillis said in a statement Saturday. 'This will force the state to make painful decisions like eliminating Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands in the expansion population, and even reducing critical services for those in the traditional Medicaid population.' 5 Sen. Markwayne Mullin defended the Medicaid reforms as reasonable. REUTERS Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had raged against the Medicaid provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but stopped short of opposing the measure. 'We can't be cutting health care for working people and for poor people in order to constantly give special tax treatment to corporations and other entities,' Hawley told NBC News last week. The Senate bill includes bigger cuts to business taxes, including a permanent deductions for R&D spending. Despite those concerns, key senators defended the Medicaid reforms on the Sunday shows as the Senate forges ahead with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 'The entitlement spending in this nation is absolutely out of control. You can rewind back to the 1960s, when actual mandatory spending, which is what these entitlements are, only made up about a third of federal spending,' Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) told CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday. 'Now, if you take that, plus the interest on our debt, it's about 73 percent of what we spend.' 5 Sen. Katie Britt called the reforms reminiscent of Clinton-era policies. Bloomberg via Getty Images Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) also touted plans to consider an amendment that would ensure illegal immigrants don't get access to Medicaid. 'Remember, the Medicaid reforms in this bill are about work requirements and taking illegals off of Medicaid,' Banks told 'Fox News Sunday.' Another closely watched amendment from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) would lower the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), which determines the percentage of Medicaid costs covered by Uncle Sam. Scott's amendment would lower FMAP for able-bodied, childless adults. The amendment has been used to win over fiscal hawks such as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who had threatened to vote against the megabill due to concerns about the deficit. 5 Sen. Jim Banks hailed the legislative bundle for slashing green energy subsidies. Getty Images In addition to the Medicaid reform, senators also defended the cuts to Biden-era renewable energy subsidies, something that has infuriated tech mogul and one-time Trump 'first buddy' Elon Musk. 'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!' Musk fumed on X Saturday. 'Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.' The Senate version of the megabill significantly rolls back tax credits for green energy in the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act and requires key projects to go into service by the conclusion of 2027 to qualify. It also features an excise tax that takes aim at solar and wind projects. 'Again, $1.6 trillion in spending cuts by eliminating the Green New Deal tax credits. Those scams that were passed during the Biden administration,' Banks added. 'Much of it is phased out in a quick period of time over the next two or three years.'
The Hill
4 hours ago
- The Hill
GOP tax bill would mean 11.8 million people uninsured, $1.1 trillion in health cuts
The Senate Republicans' tax and spending bill, which is speeding through the chamber, would result in deeper health care cuts and more people without insurance than the version that passed the House, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. The legislation would result in 11.8 million Americans without insurance by 2034, CBO found: nearly 1 million more people without insurance than the House version. That amount includes an estimated 1.4 million people without 'verified citizenship, nationality, or satisfactory immigration status' who would lose their state-funded coverage. The legislation would also cut federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare by $1.1 trillion, with more than $1 trillion coming from Medicaid. The CBO's analysis confirms that despite President Trump's repeated pledges he was only cutting waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, the legislation would enact an unprecedented reduction in the program currently used by more than 70 million low-income Americans. The bill would achieve its savings in various ways, but the bulk of the cuts come from a strict national work requirement and new restrictions on state-levied taxes on health providers. Under the bill, for the first time in the history of the Medicaid program, beneficiaries would need to prove they are working or in school at least 80 hours a month to keep their health insurance. The Senate version extends the requirement to low-income parents of children older than 14, in addition to childless adults without disabilities. The work requirements are projected to save about $325 billion over a decade. The provider taxes were the second-largest Medicaid cut in the House bill, after the work requirements. The cuts are even larger under the Senate design. Those changes would reduce spending by nearly $191 billion over a decade, according to the CBO estimate. The provider tax provisions have been among the most controversial in the Senate. States impose taxes on providers to boost their federal Medicaid contributions, which they then redirect to hospitals in the form of higher reimbursements. Limiting provider taxes is a long-held conservative goal, as they argue states are gaming the current system and driving up federal Medicaid spending. But senators representing states with poor, rural populations have objected to the scale of the cuts, including Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). The House bill would freeze the tax rate for most states, but the Senate version would require many states to lower their existing rates. As an incentive for senators uncomfortable with the provider tax cuts, the bill includes a $25 billion fund to aid rural hospitals. But that amount wasn't enough to sway Tillis, who voted with Democrats against a procedural motion late Saturday night. Hawley voted for the motion and said he would support the bill despite his misgivings over the Medicaid cuts. Additional details of the bill are in flux as negotiations between Republicans continue and the Senate parliamentarian reviews key pieces of the bill to determine if they follow the legislative rules. Lawmakers are facing down a White House-pushed July 4th deadline to pass the bill in the Senate, and then again in the House, and put it on President Trump's desk.
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Young woman plans Europe trip despite boyfriend's ‘dying mother': ‘Might be faking'
A personal drama has gone viral online as a young woman reached out to others for help in navigating her sticky travel situation. After a great deal of back and forth, she said she's now 'refusing to help my boyfriend's dying mother while planning a trip to Europe' — and wondered what others thought. Advertisement Fox News Digital reached out to a clinical psychologist for insight as people on Reddit weighed in on the drama. Describing herself as 25 years old, the woman said she lives with her boyfriend — and about a month ago, his mom 'began claiming she's dying of cancer, but no diagnosis has been confirmed. Every hospital visit ends with her being sent home. A nurse even [said] she might be faking,' the woman wrote. The mother asked to 'stay one night' at the couple's small apartment, which 'turned into a week of chaos,' said the young woman. 3 A woman is wondering what others think about not helping her 'boyfriend's dying mother while planning a trip to Europe.' Getty Images/iStockphoto Advertisement 'The apartment smelled awful, everything had to be dark and silent, and she constantly demanded help,' the woman wrote. Then the mother 'suggested we move in with her, an hour from our jobs/school.' The young woman said she's a full-time student currently holding two jobs, and she began 'falling behind.' Advertisement Her boyfriend changed his full-time job to a fully remote position so he could care for his mother, the young woman added. The health updates 'were always shifting,' however, she said. 'MRI, canceled surgery, then chemo postponed due to infection, then E. coli. Always a new reason. No clear diagnosis or paperwork,' she continued. The young woman then described a scenario in which 'we were supposed to take her to the ER … but we ended up staying 16 hours [at the mother's home] doing chores. I folded 420 clothing items, cleaned the whole house, and felt like her unpaid maid. Not a single please or thank you.' 3 The health updates 'were always shifting,' the woman said. 'Always a new reason. No clear diagnosis or paperwork.' Getty Images/iStockphoto Advertisement She went on, 'She was stalling to go to the ER, and when we finally got there at 5 a.m., she said she'd check herself in and sent us home. Three hours later, she called again, sobbing for help. She had been rejected by the ER.' Wrote the woman, 'I suspect she faked it.' The young woman said she and her boyfriend had been 'skipping meals, losing sleep and falling behind at work to help her.' To further complicate things, the mother's boyfriend, an apparent alcoholic, began sending the young couple 'aggressive texts' — then 'later apologized,' according to the thread. The mother then 'called again begging for help. But this time, she wanted me … I needed that weekend to study for final exams. And going to that house alone seemed sketchy.' The young woman said she's now planning a 'Europe trip to see my mom, whom I haven't seen in over a year.' While the boyfriend said he supports her trip of several weeks, he also told her she was being 'a little selfish,' the woman wrote. Advertisement The boyfriend apparently asked her, 'If I were dying, would you quit your job to be with me?' and 'If it were your mom, would you help her?' The woman said she 'felt pressured to say yes. But truth is, my family wouldn't lie to me or use me like this.' The woman concluded that she 'loves' her boyfriend and wants 'to be there for him. But I don't trust his mom, and this is starting to affect our relationship.' Advertisement She then wondered if she was wrong for 'going home to Europe.' 3 While the boyfriend said he supports her trip of several weeks, he also told her she was being 'a little selfish,' saying 'if it were your mom, would you help her?' Getty Images/iStockphoto Some 5,000 people have reacted to the personal situation to date — with the vast majority siding with the stressed young woman. Wrote a top commenter, 'I know you love your boyfriend, but you need to ask yourself if you're willing to give up your own life for him and his mom, because it's never going to stop. It could stop if he chooses to set boundaries, but it doesn't sound like he'll do that.' Advertisement Wrote another person, 'Break up. Move out. Go on vacation. Stop dealing with crazy mom and [boyfriend].' Said yet another individual, 'Why is his family more important than yours? I would tell him that he should move her to assisted living or an apartment and hire help. Let him know that while you love him, you are not lighting your future on fire to help someone who won't help themselves.' And yet another person wrote, 'Stay in Europe would be my advice. Sounds exhausting.' Said another commenter, 'Run! Escape!'
