Mah Sponsored Legislation to Prevent Spiking of Prescription Drugs Costs Passes House

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – In an effort to ensure individuals have access to affordable healthcare and medication, state Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, helped advance legislation to prevent insurance companies from making unfair price increases on prescription drugs.

“When insurance companies hike prescription costs, it creates a financial burden that can leave families unable to afford continued coverage,” Mah said. “This proposal ensures patients receive the same price for their prescriptions that they were promised when they chose their policy.”

Mah’s legislation, House Bill 4146, bars insurers from making mid-year price increases on prescription drugs that a patient is prescribed when they initially chose their coverage plan. Currently, nothing prohibits commercial health insurers in Illinois from making prescription coverage changes mid-year, even while consumers and families are essentially locked into their health plans. Mah’s proposal would level the playing field by making insurance companies honor the prescription prices that they promise.

“The status quo is set up to benefit insurance companies at the expense of patients, it’s fundamentally unfair,” Mah said. “Our focus should be on increasing access to affordable, quality healthcare—not increasing the bottom-line for ‘big-insurance.’ I look forward to continuing the efforts of the bipartisan coalition of legislators that supported this bill to get the measure signed into law.”

House Bill 4146 passed the House last week with bipartisan support and is awaiting further action in the Senate.