Mainers are spending too much for their medications

By Rep. Richard A. Evans, MD

We have a problem in Maine, and that problem is Big Pharma. Something needs to be done to rein in the excessively high costs of prescription medications. In 2018, Americans spent $535 billion on prescription drugs, an increase of 50 percent since 2010. The Maine Health Data Organization reports that last year, Mainers paid an additional $165.5 million over the previous year for the 25 drugs sold in Maine having the highest price increases. Also, in 2018, the CEOs of three major drug companies were paid a total of more than $90 million.

This is not a good deal for the average Mainer. These companies receive taxpayer dollars for the creation and marketing of new drugs, benefit from research and development tax credits, receive tax deductions for marketing and advertising and benefit from patents which protect their investments. Yes, companies have a right to make profits on their investments, however price gouging and putting people’s lives at risk is a completely different animal. The high costs of prescription medications drive up medical debt and puts lives at risk, as people are forced to choose between paying for their medications or paying for other necessities like food, housing and heat.

This is a problem our country must solve. Virtually all medications are less expensive overseas. Take a common drug like insulin, a necessary medication for many patients with diabetes. In the U.S., its cost increased an average of 11% per year from 2001 to 2018, and now averages over $12,000 per year. According to a 2020 Rand Corporation study, this is five to ten times higher than most other countries examined.

For the past several years and to date, Congress has been making noise about lowering prescription drug costs but cannot seem to take decisive action in rectifying this problem. Due to Big Pharma’s lobbying efforts in Congress and Washington’s reluctance to address this issue head-on, the onus to fix this inequity will require actions at the state level. With the health and well-being of the citizens of Maine at stake, we cannot afford to wait for action from Washington. Earlier this year, two bills were introduced in the first session of the Maine Legislature to address Big Pharma and price gouging. One was An Act to Protect Maine Consumers from Unsupported Price Increases on Prescription Medications. The second bill was An Act to Prevent Excessive Prices for Prescription Drugs. Unfortunately, in the final act, both bills were vetoed.

One of the responsibilities of a citizen legislator is to speak up when you see an injustice or a deliberate inequality. The imperative is to define what is right and then do it. If we continue to allow these wrongs by Big Pharma to go unchallenged, it creates the impression that those wrongs have the approval of the majority. Next year, we will try again, and keep trying until these injustices are corrected.

Evans is a physician and surgeon and represents seven communities in Piscataquis County. He is in his first term in the Maine House of Representatives and serves on the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee.