PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is promoting a package of bills designed to put prescription drug costs front and center, with the goal of making it more affordable for the state's most vulnerable.
While visiting a senior center in Willingboro, Murphy pointed to recent data which shows one in five New Jerseyans did not fill or take their prescriptions due to costs, and one in four diabetics ration their insulin because they can't afford a full supply.
"When I don't have the funds for my medications, I end up in the hospital just so I can get a proper treatment necessary to get by, survive for that moment," said Dorothy Jean Baptiste, a chronic asthmatic who takes a host of medicines including inhalers.
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"In the richest nation in the world and one of the richest states in that nation, we should never have this Hobson's choice of choosing between our medicine and our food or our rent," said State Senator Troy Singleton (D-Moorestown).
Murphy and the New Jersey legislature are working on a package of four bills designed to fix this issue.
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"Anyone covered by a state-regulated health plan, the state health benefits, or school employee health benefits plans will be able to get a 30 day supply of insulin for $35 or less," he said.
"We will create a new system to collect, analyze and report on the entire process of drug pricing across the entire supply chain, from manufacturers to distributors, to those pharmacy benefit managers and insurance carriers."
The New Jersey Family Care program would join a multi-state purchasing pool to negotiate more competitive drug prices.
