⏱️ 6–7 min read
California families are struggling with skyrocketing prescription drug prices. Since 2017, prescription drug spending in our state-regulated health plans has increased by at least 56%—an increase of at least $5 billion. Depending on how you crunch the numbers, the real increase could be even higher. In 2022 alone, spending was $12.1 billion, up 12.3% from the year before. And it’s everyday Californians and their employers who are stuck footing the bill.
Instead of tackling the root problem, Sacramento has produced Senate Bill 41, written by Senator Scott Wiener and coauthored by fellow progressives in the Legislature. The bill is being pitched to voters as consumer protection, but in reality, it is a handout to the drug companies that dismantles cost-control tools and leaves patients paying the price.
Backed by Big Pharma, Not Patients
The most telling endorsement isn’t coming from patients or small businesses. It’s coming from PhRMA, the D.C. lobbying arm of Big Pharma. If the very industry responsible for high drug prices is supporting your so-called “reform,” that should set off alarm bells.
Meanwhile, groups that represent employers and consumers—like the California Chamber of Commerce—oppose SB 41, warning that it will “disrupt carefully balanced pharmaceutical benefit designs and financial incentives, leading to increased drug costs for patients and higher health care costs for employers.”
The Fatal Flaw
SB 41 bans what’s called “spread pricing,” a model that lets employers lock in predictable prices for prescription drugs. While not perfect, this model gives health plans negotiating leverage and creates downward pressure on costs.
By outlawing spread pricing, SB 41 removes that leverage. PBMs will be forced into a “pass-through” model that sounds good on paper but strips away flexibility and competitive pressure on drug manufacturers. That’s exactly why PhRMA and the drugmakers are cheering it on. Less resistance for them means higher prices for all of us.
Newsom’s Veto Should Have Been a Warning
Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a nearly identical bill last year. He rightly warned that real reform requires transparency across the entire prescription drug supply chain—not just targeting the middlemen. But Wiener and his allies came back with only cosmetic tweaks, still ducking the real issue: what drugmakers charge.
Scott Wiener’s San Francisco Agenda
Let’s be honest: Senator Scott Wiener represents San Francisco, and his politics reflect it. Nearly every piece of legislation he touches carries the same heavy-handed, big-government mindset San Francisco keeps trying to impose on the rest of us. Whether it’s housing, crime, or now health care, Wiener’s bills rarely advance the cause of liberty or affordability.
SB 41 is just the latest example. Rather than confronting the drug industry, Wiener has crafted a bill that makes Big Pharma happy, while Californians face higher costs. That’s the San Francisco way: wrap up corporate favors in progressive language and hope voters don’t look too closely.
Voters Aren’t Buying It
Once voters hear what’s really going on, they want no part of it. Recent polling shows 72% of Californians oppose SB 41 when they learn it’s backed by Big Pharma—including clear majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s common sense.
California Needs Fighters, Not Followers
Prescription drug costs have gone up at least $5 billion in just six years. Employers and families are shouldering the burden. Instead of siding with PhRMA and its lobbyists, California legislators should be demanding real transparency, accountability, and competition across the entire drug supply chain.
And make no mistake: a phalanx of lobbyists—both from PhRMA and from individual pharmaceutical firms—will be descending on Sacramento to push SB 41. Discerning legislators must see through the slick talking points and remember who they represent: the ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of rising drug costs. Those citizens do not fare well in this legislation.
SB 41 flunks the most basic test of common-sense lawmaking. It’s a San Francisco-style solution: all rhetoric, no results, and a clear win for the pharmaceutical lobby. Californians deserve leaders who will fight for patients—not carry water for Big Pharma.