Senate Bill Proposed to Cap Prescription Drugs Cost on Private Health Plans !

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WENY) — Earlier today, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced new legislation to cap prescription drug costs for families with private healthcare providers.

The Capping Prescription Costs Act would cap annual prescription drug costs for both individuals and families that use private health insurance. This would build on other medical expense reforms like 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act.

The bill if passed would keep individual prescription drug costs at $2,000 or less annually for individuals and $4,000 or less for families on private healthcare providers. Legislation has already been passed to reduce monthly insulin costs to $35 for medicare users and yearly out-of-pocket drug costs to $2,000 for medicare part D beneficiaries.

Nearly a dozen democratic senators have co-sponsored the bill, and accompanying legislation is being drafted in the house of representatives.

“By the time they turn 60, most Americans are taking at least one prescription medication. And many say it’s difficult to afford them. Americans shouldn’t be charged two to four times as much as people in other countries for the exact same medicine. They shouldn’t have to ration their medication or forgo it all together because they can’t afford it,” said Gillibrand in a virtual press conference.

The bill’s passage would allow over 10 million New Yorkers to cap their own out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. Price caps would also apply to group-based healthcare plans and marketplace healthcare plans.

Sen. Gillibrand also said that if the bill is passed, it would allow working Americans to access necessary medication without having to endure financial struggles.