04/15/2026
Today we celebrated a historic action by Maryland’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB)! THANK YOU to the policy makers and hundreds of organizations in the coalition whose leadership and advocacy over many years led to this moment.
Special thank you to our speakers House Speaker Joseline Pena Melnyk, Health Committee Chair Delegate Heather Bagnall, Delegate Bonnie Cullison, Delegate Jennifer White Holland, Senator Dawn Gile, Rev. Randy Callendar of Maryland Episcopal Public Policy Network, David Conway of AARP Maryland, and Rev. Dr. Sandra Conner of Baptist Ministers' Night Conference of Baltimore and Vicinity, and to Governor Wes Moore for providing a video statement.
This week the PDAB voted to establish the State’s first upper payment limit on Jardiance for state and local governments. Jardiance is used for patients facing diabetes, kidney disease and other health problems.
The PDAB estimates that state and local governments in Maryland will save about $320,000 per year. Although they did not take action on it at this time, the PDAB is also poised to soon set an upper payment limit for the blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic which the PDAB estimates will save state and local governments in Maryland about $5.8 million per year.
Once they have set upper payment limits for state and local government drug costs for two drugs, the PDAB will in a year’s time have the expanded authority to set upper payment limits on drugs purchased by all Marylanders. If they choose to do so, this could save the Maryland health care system up to $165 million annually on the cost of the diabetes drug Ozempic, and up to $16.4 million annually on the cost of Jardiance.
We all pay for the high cost of prescription drugs, whether at the pharmacy counter, through our insurance premiums, or with our taxpayer dollars.
Our PDAB is a critical way for us, as a state, to ensure that we are putting patients over pharmaceutical profit, because drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them.
