SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A bill on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s desk seeks to stop price gouging on generic drugs.
It would allow the attorney general’s office to take legal action if a manufacturer bumps prices by more than 30% in a year. The same goes for 50% spikes over a three-year period and 75% increases over five years.
It would take effect January 1 if signed. The measure does exempt companies if production costs force price increases.
Pharmacists said that the bill is far from a cure-all.
“We’re still not completely addressing one of the biggest aspects of the influence of the increase of drug prices, and that’s the claims and pricing setting that pharmacy benefit managers have in this space,” said Garth Reynolds of the Illinois Pharmacists Association.
Lawmakers are also planning to lower the maximum price on a month’s supply of insulin from $100 to $35.