Mass. Senate backs two-year extension for drug coupon law
The House and Senate are at odds over whether to extend for two years an expiring law allowing drug manufacturers to offer coupons and rebates for brand-name prescriptions or to lift the expiration altogether. Lawmakers in 2012 reached a compromise making Massachusetts the last state in the country to allow drug makers to offer co-payment assistance to patients for medications. That law is due to expire on July 1, 2015.
The House has approved a bill (S 2286) that would eliminate the sunset provision, but the Senate on Wednesday adopted an amendment offered by Sen. James Welch, of West Springfield, that would instead extend the sunset date by two years to 2017. Welch was not present when the Senate adopted his amendment, and could not be reached for comment.
Opponents of drug coupons argue their use drives up health care costs by encouraging people to request pricey brand-name medications. A coalition of organizations, which included MassPIRG, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, unsuccessfully tried to prevent drug coupons in Massachusetts from becoming legal.
Others who back the discounts say they help people afford expensive prescriptions.
"Co-payment assistance is important to all patients who have health insurance, but in some cases can't access therapies because they can't afford the co-payments," said Robert Coughlin, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
As a counter to opponents, Coughlin told the News Service the incentives from drug manufacturers would not apply if cheaper generic alternative medications were available. Asked about the sunset clause, Coughlin said, "Obviously, we'd like to see it go away, but we can live with it being put off for another couple of years so people can continue to learn that this is a good thing for the patient population."
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