BUFFALO, NY — AARP and 41 other organizations sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, urging her to sign the prescription drug price transparency legislation into law.
Pharmacist and Black Rock Pharmacy owner Brad Arthur says his customers are hoping the bill becomes law.
Patients are increasingly being required to cover higher out of pocket costs as these drugs prices have been going up exponentially over the last couple of decades.
According to Georgetown University, the annual out-of-pocket drug costs for all adults is $177 but people age 65 and older pay on average $465 out of pocket every year.
If signed into law, NYS would follow Vermont which was the first state to enact a prescription drug pricing transparency law and saw an almost 80% decline in the number of drugs with price increases.
Customers like Christine Punturo tell 7 News Reporter Jaurdyn Johnson, that the cost of prescriptions is making some people make life-threatening decisions.
People can barely afford food, let alone their prescriptions. But they need their prescriptions. Its a life or death situation sometimes.
The organizations hope Governor Hochul will sign the legislation into law before the end of the year.
The idea here is to shine the light on high costs on prescription drugs and force the pharmaceutical companies to report their increases over 16-percent and tell the State of New York why they are increasing the price of drugs.
7 News reporter Jaurdyn Johnson reached out to Governor Hochul's office and a spokesperson said:
"Governor Hochul is reviewing the legislation.."
