Prescription Drug Affordability Board Activity, April and May 2026
Activities Summary
Maryland: In its April meeting, the Maryland PDAB set a UPL on Jardiance. In its May meeting, the board set a UPL on Ozempic.
Maryland
Maryland PDAB Meetings
April 13, 2026 (Special Meeting)
Agenda | Minutes | Meeting Recording | Written comments
In their April meeting, Maryland’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) passed a motion to set an upper payment limit (UPL) for Jardiance, a diabetes treatment. By January 2027, they plan to cap the price at $204, or $6.80 a pill for a 30-day supply, a figure based on the Medicare maximum fair price. Maryland is the second state to deem a drug unaffordable and set a UPL.
The PDAB also considered Farxiga for a UPL in their affordability reviews, but decided against the move due to the FDA’s approval of its first generic, just days before the Board’s meeting. This highlights one prevalent criticism of PDABs, the slow-moving nature of their processes, a sentiment that Maryland PDAB Chair Van Mitchell echoed in their November meeting. Other criticisms come from pharmacies and patient advocacy groups, which center on medicine access.
Additional meeting materials:
- Proposed COMAR 14.01.06- Implementation and Monitoring of Upper Payment Limits (Redlined)
- UPL agenda item written comments
- Farxiga- Cost Review Study Report (Presentation)
- Proposed COMAR 14.01.07.01- Farxiga Upper Payment Limit
- Farxiga- Consideration of Upper Payment Limit (Presentation)
- Written comments on Farxiga UPL amount and methodology document
- Jardiance- Cost Review Study Report (Presentation)
- Proposed COMAR 14.01.07.02- Jardiance Upper Payment Limit
- Written comments on Jardiance UPL amount and methodology document
May 18, 2026
Agenda | Video | Written comment
On May 18, 2026, Maryland’s PDAB passed a measure to establish an upper payment limit on Ozempic. Set to take effect in January 2027, the drug’s price will be capped at $274 for a 30-day supply, a figure based on the maximum fair price (MFP) paid by Medicare, for state and local governments. In their April meeting, the PDAB also capped prices on Jardiance based on Medicare’s MFP. The board, established in 2019, has spent millions and only recently began implementing upper payment limits after years of meetings and debate. Critics argue the process has been slow and ineffective, a point echoed by the board chair in November 2025, pointing to cases like Farxiga, another diabetes medication considered for a cap in April 2026, where more than a dozen FDA-approved generics entered the market before the board could act, driving prices down through competition instead.
Additional meeting materials:
Virginia
In Virginia, Governor Abigail Spanberger vetoed the highly anticipated PDAB bills in her state. In her veto memo, Spanberger said the boards “are expensive undertakings that other states have either repealed or are considering repealing due to costs and ineffectiveness.” According to the bill’s fiscal statement, the bill would have cost the state over $40 million through 2031.
Prior to the veto, the Governor proposed several amendments that the General Assembly ultimately rejected, including requiring the state to study a reference-based pricing system before spending millions on implementation and giving the Attorney General greater authority to investigate anticompetitive behavior between pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance carriers.