House approves drug price gouging bill, now heads to Senate
The Illinois House of Representatives moved House Bill 3957 to the Senate on Wednesday, a bill blocking drug price gouging on off-patent and generic drugs.
Consideration was postponed on the bill during a third reading frenzy before the legislature's spring break last month. Democrats adjourned that April 18 without having enough members to move it forward despite having a super-majority in the chamber.
Wednesday's vote proved to be much less dramatic and advanced on a 84-25 bipartisan vote. House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, joined Democrats in supporting the legislation.
Specifically, the bill from Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine, permits the Director of Healthcare and Family Services or Director of Central Management Services to inform the Attorney General when a price increase for a drug is merited as price gouging. From there, the AG's office could request a drug manufacturer to explain why they have increased the medication and potentially file subpoenas to a circuit court.
Related: Illinois Senate Democrats push bill calling for $35 monthly cap for insulin
Drug manufacturers that do price gouge could be ordered to restore amounts accrued through the increase to customers or pay up to a $10,000 fine per day it's found in violation. The bill's language defines price gouging as when an increase on a medication's 30-day supply cost exceeds $20. That increase must be greater than 30% over the course of the past year, 50% over three years and 75% over the prior five years.
Syed told The State Journal-Register following the vote conversations have continued with fellow legislators after the postponed consideration. Backing HB 3957 in the Senate is Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria.
"It's a bipartisan issue," she said, calling it a consumer protection bill. "There are seniors in our communities that are suffering because they are worried about the increase of their generic drug."
During floor debate, Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, asked if the Attorney General's office had any constitutional concerns for the bill and what protections exist for drug manufacturers. Syed explained that the price increase, even if it met the specific criteria, would also have to be an "undue and excessive burden."
Caulkins voted 'no' on the bill with concern that it would make it harder for Illinoisans to secure generic drugs.
"We will spend millions and millions of dollars trying to litigate this bill to no avail," he said. "We cannot regulate the price of drugs through the Attorney General's office, that's not the role of the Attorney General."
The bill comes more than a year after former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli was barred from the drug industry and ordered to pay $64.6 million for price gouging a life-saving drug called Daraprim. As reported by The New York Times, Shkrelli acquired the rights to the drug used to deal with parasitic infections in 2015 and bumped its price from $13.50 a tablet to $750.
The Illinois General Assembly is also considering a set of bills that would cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 per month. House Bill 2189 and Senate Bill 1559 have both advanced out of their respective chambers and now await the next round of votes before heading to the governor's desk.
If HB 3957 passes in the Senate and is signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker, the effective date is Jan. 1, 2024.
Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: House approves drug price gouging bill, now heads to Senate
