Weekly Policy Update: CBSA Represents Colorado’s Life Sciences Ecosystem in Senate Committee Hearings
By: Colorado BioScience Association Date: 02/07/2020
This week, CBSA weighed in on Senate Bill 10, Repeal Ban on Local Government Regulation of Plastics, to ensure life-saving medicines and medical devices are not impacted by local regulations on single-use plastics.
The bill would have repealed a current state law that prohibits local governments from regulating plastics. Since CBSA learned about this legislation, we have continued to express concerns that medical products, devices, equipment, and supplies could be included in local bans on single-use plastics. While we don’t believe local municipalities would intentionally enact regulations that impact medical products, we have remained concerned that these impacts could be overlooked.
CBSA repeatedly advocated for an amendment to exempt medical products, but the bill’s sponsor was not willing to consider any exemptions at the time of the hearing. Consequently, CBSA testified in opposition to the bill. After hearing several hours of public testimony, the Senate Local Government Committee voted 3-2 to postpone the bill indefinitely.
Read Emily’s Full Testimony on Senate Bill 10
CBSA also testified in opposition to Senate Bill 107, Drug Production Costs Transparency Analysis Report. The bill directs the Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing to collect, analyze, and report on prescription drug production cost data for the 20 highest-cost prescription drugs per course of therapy and the 20 highest-cost prescription drugs based on volume. Under the bill, each manufacturer with a prescription drug on the list would be required to report information on the components of the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of each prescription drug.
CBSA opposed the bill, testifying that it would lead to an inaccurate and misleading picture of what goes into the development of new treatments and do nothing to improve patient access or provide patients with meaningful information about what they will pay when they pick up their medicine.
In testimony, CBSA encouraged the bill sponsors and other members of the General Assembly to consider policies that would actually reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients – such as sharing rebates and discounts with commercially-insured patients at the point of sale. This policy could significantly reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients, particularly those with chronic diseases, and in doing so, increase medication adherence and improve patient outcomes.
The Committee did not vote on the bill this week. It was laid over until February 12, upon adjournment.
Read Emily’s Full Testimony on Senate Bill 107
Throughout the session, CBSA will keep you updated on the bills impacting our life sciences community. If you have questions or concerns, please let us know. We welcome your feedback
Contact CBSA Vice President Emily Roberts at Eroberts@cobioscience.com.
Stay up to date with what is impacting the life sciences community during the session.