Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

A Bold Step to Control Prescription Drug Prices

Stateline: In a move that could lead to lower drug prices for Medicaid programs across the country, Massachusetts is asking the Trump administration for the authority to exclude some new medicines from the state’s health program for the poor.

Amid a steep rise in prices for some medications that has strained state budgets in recent years, Massachusetts said that the change would give it leverage to extract lower prices from pharmaceutical manufacturers. And if the request is approved, health analysts say, many other states likely would follow suit.

States recently have taken other steps to lower drug prices or costs to patients. A number have enacted laws that require drugmakers to disclose their development and marketing costs in hopes that transparency may encourage them to lower prices. And some have limited out-of-pocket expenses for patients who use expensive specialty drugs, like many used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases.

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