HB524 is a giveaway to Big Pharma that will cause premiums to increase and provide no check on already sky-high specialty drug prices.
HB524 would mandate that consumers cover, or pay for, oral chemotherapy drugs the same as they do IV chemotherapy drugs through their insurance premiums. Oral chemotherapy drugs are already some of the most expensive on the market and many are priced significantly higher than IV chemo drugs. In a 14 year span, Big Pharma increased the cost of these drugs by more than 500 percent to an average total of $11,325 a month. The mandate will cause health insurance premiums to soar, while doing nothing to protect patients from the high costs of their lifesaving drugs, rein in excessive prices set by Big Pharma, or help those on chemotherapy save money.
