資料來源：https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickgleason/2017/02/21/states-consider-imposing-drug-price-controls/#5a5b3af18742

It is the thick of state legislative season in the U.S., with lawmakers currently in session in most state capitals. As is often the case, major national policy debates taking place on Capitol Hill – whether it’s tax reform, health care reform, energy policy, or some other issue – are also being debated in statehouses, and 2017 is no different.

A policy trend with major implications for consumers and health care providers that has emerged in 2017 is the introduction of legislation to impose price controls on prescription drugs in multiple states.

Drug price control bills have been filed in Oregon, Washington, Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, Indiana, and Montana. In addition to that legislative activity, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) recently proposed drug price controls as part of his new Executive Budget.

This state legislative activity represents the continuation of a debate that featured prominently in the 2016 election cycle on two fronts. In addition to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton touting their proposals for drug price controls throughout the primary and general election campaigns, there was an initiative on the California ballot, one of the most expensive ballot measure fights of 2016, which would’ve imposed drug price controls in the most populous state in the country. While both Clinton & Sanders were unsuccessful, and the California ballot measure was rejected by voters, the debate over drug price controls carries on in at least eight 2017 state legislative fights.

Politicians, predominantly Democrats, have found that touting drug price controls is an effective way to stoke populist passions on the campaign trail. However, the facts and numbers demonstrate two things: 1) Prescription drugs are the wrong target for those who want to tamp down health care costs, and 2) Price controls, whether applied to drugs or other goods, do not work and have unintended negative consequences. Anyone who disagrees should look at what is going on in Venezuela right now.

For starters, the justification for price controls on prescription drugs is based in myth. The claim that U.S. drug spending is growing out of control is simply not true. Spending on prescription drugs as a share of all health care spending in the U.S. is the same as it was 60 years ago.

As the Manhattan Institute pointed out in a 2015 report, spending in the U.S. on drugs accounts for about 10% of total health care spending. In fact, drugs account for a lower percentage of total health care spending in the U.S. than in Europe, where drug price controls have been on the books for decades. Upon further investigation, it becomes clear pharmaceutical price controls – like those now being debated in eight state capitals – are misguided solutions in search of a problem, and are a red herring when it comes to the effort to bend the overall health care cost curve.