Connecticut State Comptroller Kevin Lembo was scheduled this afternoon to join U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) for a Democratic Steering and Policy Committee Hearing on prescription drug prices.
Lembo – who administers health benefits on behalf of more than 200,000 state and municipal employees, retirees and their dependents – called on Connecticut’s congressional delegation in October to investigate and act to reverse the root causes of alarming pharmaceutical drug price increases.
Lembo recently implemented new restrictions on the state plan to curb a rapid rise in unregulated compound drug prescriptions through the state health plan that have dramatically reduced state spending – by approximately $2 million per month – on certain questionable medications. Despite these and other efforts to manage healthcare costs, Lembo said pharmaceutical costs continue to skyrocket due to several factors in the market.
Other hearing participants today include: Lynn Quincy, director of Health Care Value Hub for Consumers Union; Dr. Jeremy Greene, associate professor of medicine and the history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and Brian Lehman, manager of pharmacy benefits and policy for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
