S-4694.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5995
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State of Washington | 65th Legislature | 2018 Regular Session |
By Senate Health & Long Term Care (originally sponsored by Senators Keiser, Pedersen, Rolfes, Van De Wege, Liias, Hunt, Conway, Chase, Saldaña, Kuderer, and Hasegawa)
READ FIRST TIME 02/02/18.
AN ACT Relating to protecting consumers and purchasers from excessive increases in prescription drug prices; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that excessive price increases to prescription drugs that lack justification based on market forces create a public health risk to consumers who rely on prescription drugs. In order to prevent a drug manufacturer from taking unfair advantage of consumers who rely upon and may lose access to the prescription drugs if the medication has a sudden and excessive price increase, the legislature declares that excessive price increases of prescription drugs must be reviewed and studied.
(2) The Washington state institute for public policy must review, study, and report to the legislature on policy recommendations for protecting consumers against excessive prescription drug price increases. The study must include a two year look back of prescription drug price increases where the wholesale acquisition cost increased by a percentage equal to or greater than one hundred percent: At any one time; or in the aggregate in any twelve-month period. The study only applies to prescription drugs costing twenty-five dollars or more for a thirty-day supply, and does not pertain to price increases for new prescription drugs. For the purposes of the study, the wholesale acquisition cost means the price for each dosage, size, or concentration of the prescription drug offered or sold by the drug manufacturer. The report with policy recommendations must be submitted, in compliance with RCW
43.01.036, to the appropriate legislative committees by November 30, 2018.
(3) This section expires June 30, 2019.
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