As Virginia lawmakers consider legislation to establish a prescription drug affordability board that could impose limits on certain drug payments, a patient advocacy coalition released a new analysis arguing that such price cap policies may not address the factors that determine what patients ultimately pay for medicines.
The analysis was released by the EACH/PIC Coalition, a national network of patient advocacy organizations focused on drug access and affordability issues.
“If patients are the goal, policymakers should focus on the barriers that actually determine whether people can access medicines,” the EACH/PIC Coalition said in a press release.
The report analyzed policies known as Upper Payment Limits (UPLs)—pricing mechanisms sometimes used by prescription drug affordability boards to cap what health plans and government programs pay for certain medicines.
The report comes as Virginia lawmakers consider Senate Bill 271, legislation that would establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Panel tasked with analyzing drug pricing trends and recommending policies aimed at improving prescription drug affordability across the Commonwealth.
Under the proposal, the panel would study prescription drug pricing trends and provide policy recommendations to state officials on ways to address rising drug costs.
Patient advocacy groups have also weighed in on the legislation. The International Foundation for Autoimmune & Autoinflammatory Arthritis, a patient advocacy organization, urged Virginia lawmakers earlier this year to oppose a companion measure in the House of Delegates.
In a January post on X, the group warned that the proposal would create “an ineffective and costly Prescription Drug Affordability Board that has failed to generate any savings in other states.” The comments referenced House Bill 483, a House companion bill to SB 271 currently under consideration by Virginia lawmakers.
Debate over the policy has been ongoing in Richmond for several years. Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation establishing a prescription drug affordability board in both 2024 and 2025, citing concerns about the potential impact on access to medicines and the broader healthcare market, according to veto messages released by his office.
