Colorado bill could offer a lifeline for patients like me

At first glance, you wouldn’t know it, but I have a rare, life-threatening genetic condition.

I was born with severe hemophilia, a disorder that prevents my blood from clotting properly. Without medication, my joints swell uncontrollably, my elbows, knees, and ankles becoming the size of cantaloupes. The increase in pressure due to blood flooding the joint cavity results in unimaginable pain and permanent damage to my joints. Without medication, my life expectancy is just 25 years old.

But with access to life-saving treatment, my reality is completely different. I am a devoted husband and father. I’m a college graduate — Go Buffaloes! — and a former educator, having taught science to at-risk youth in Denver and Aurora public schools. I love Colorado’s great outdoors, and, at 40 years old, I am thriving. But that is only because I have access to the medication I need.

House Bill 25-1094 will hold pharmacy benefit managers accountable and rein in the sky-high costs of prescription drugs. PBMs are middlemen in the drug pricing system, quietly working behind the scenes but exerting enormous influence over the cost of our medications. They were originally created to help reduce drug prices, but today they profit by jacking up prices instead of passing savings on to patients. While it becomes harder and harder for patients like me to afford medications, PBM profits have skyrocketed by 438% over the past decade...

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