Maryland drug affordability board 'can be national model', claims group

The Maryland House of Delegates this week voted 98 to 40 to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, an independent body with the authority to evaluate high-cost prescription drugs and set rates for state and local governments to pay.

This bill, HB 768, now moves to the Maryland Senate Finance Committee. Campaign group Patients for Affordable Drugs Now believes that it could provide a model for the nation and fundamentally reshape how states address prescription drug prices.

David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, said: “Maryland residents have been sending letters and making calls to lawmakers in support of the state’s effort to get a better deal on prescription drugs.