People can’t agree on much in 2024, but almost everyone thinks prescription drugs cost too much.

A new state task force – made up of doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, insurance carriers and drug makers – launched on Wednesday to find solutions. But getting them all to agree will be a tough prescription to fill.

Arden Parrish needs insulin to survive. But listen to how expensive it is.

“I pay more for a month of my insulin than for a month of my Yale tuition,” he said.

Parrish leads Connecticut Insulin 4 All. He's also part of the new Prescription Drug Task Force, which began meeting Wednesday, looking at why drug prices are so high.

“I can see in my own practice how people can afford or not even afford many of these drugs,” said Dr. Jeff Gordon, a cancer physician and Republican state senator from Woodstock. “In my 30-plus years, I have seen the issue grow from a few drugs to nearly all of them.”

According to a 2022 survey from Healthcare Value Hub, 51% of Connecticut residents are worried about the price of prescriptions, almost a quarter actually cut pills in half to ration them and 10% have skipped out on getting a needed medical device.

“The system we have now is dysfunctional,” said Tracy Marra, a Darien pharmacist who also serves as a GOP state lawmaker. “How they get reimbursed from their insurer, how they get reimbursed from Medicaid, how the whole process works.”

In addition to lawmakers from both parties, the panel includes a wide swath of stakeholders – including doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim (based in Ridgefield), major insurance carriers, the Connecticut Hospital Association, AAPR and Pharmacy Benefit Managers. PBMs are the “middlemen” between drug makers and insurance carriers.

The task force will look at how drugs are priced (including the role of PBMs) and whether to expand 340B drug discount programs. Drug manufacturers argued that expansion could actually raise prices.

“The concern is with the explosion of the program over the last couple of decades,” said Jennifer Herz, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Director of State Government Affairs.

Task force members will also look at whether Connecticut should import drugs from Canada – an idea proposed earlier this year as part of a sweeping drug affordability bill that failed to advance.

Connecticut – and Congress – have already made some progress. A new state law requires more transparency in drug pricing, but regulating PBMs has been a challenge.

“Who’s paying what and what the manufacturers are charging PBMs and what the pharmacies are paying,” said Griffin Hospital president Pat Charmel.

Connecticut residents can also save hundreds of dollars on prescriptions with the free ArrayRx card. In other states, it has saved patients an average of 20% off name-brand drugs and 80% off generics. The savings come from buying power. Connecticut is partnering with three other states – Washington, Nevada and Oregon – to negotiate lower prices.

At the national level, Medicare can now negotiate prices on 10 common drugs, but patients won’t see the savings until 2026. It’s expected to impact around 100,000 seniors Connecticut.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Prescription Drug Task Force will meet up to three times a week. By February, members expect to have final recommendations for state lawmakers.