SB 17 doesn’t address pressing prescription drug transparency issues for CA voters

California’s SB 17 is one of a number of bills relating to prescription drug transparency around prescription medicine costs that are winding their way through U.S. statehouses.

California’s latest bill falls short of offering patients, providers or policymakers any meaningful improvements on medicine access, affordability or coverage. Rather, it calls for mounds of red tape and government reports that look only at the list price of a prescription drug rather than considering actual patient spending after negotiated discounts and rebates.

But does the promise of SB 17 align with the needs of Californians?

For those who have concerns about access to needed medicines or important questions about medicine costs, we want to help find the answers. PhRMA has convened a national conversation tackling this complex issue, exploring medicine cost trends, the rising cost of chronic disease, insurance coverage of medicine, the role of middlemen and what our industry can do to make medicine more affordable for patients. Let’s talk about cost.