ST. PAUL, MN - Governor Tim Walz today announced a significant step in the state’s effort to bring price transparency to the prescription drug market. Today the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) published the inaugural list of 364 drugs from 76 manufacturers that will now be subject to reporting from drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers, wholesalers, and pharmacies. Information collected will shed light on how prices grow as they move through the supply chain and inform actions policymakers can take to make prescription drugs more affordable.

“Access to necessary medications is a right, not a privilege. Yet, for many across the state and nation, the high cost of prescription drugs forces tough decisions when it comes to affording health care,” said Governor Walz. “I am grateful to the Minnesota Department of Health for their crucial work in increasing transparency of the prescription drug market. This is a major step towards our goal of creating a more affordable health care system.”

Publication of the drugs of substantial public interest list is a quarterly requirement of the bipartisan Minnesota Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act first passed in 2020 and expanded in 2023. Among the first of its kind in the nation, the law aims to provide consumers, health care plans, policymakers, and hospitals with previously unavailable information about cost drivers that impact prescription drug prices in Minnesota.

Due to the complexity and lack of transparency of the prescription drug market, patients and policymakers lack the information needed to understand why drugs are so expensive and how to make the market work more effectively to improve affordability. Many Minnesotans are unable to afford the high and rising costs of critically important drug therapies. MDH’s publication will begin addressing this issue by increasing access to actionable information across the pharmaceutical supply chain.

“This is a strong first step toward pulling back the curtain to show the cost drivers that make up prescription drug prices in Minnesota," said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham. “The diversity of medications on the list released today provides MDH and stakeholders with more meaningful and actionable information about the prescription drug supply chain and what influences affordability.”

With the help of quarterly lists of drugs that represent a substantial interest to Minnesotans released by MDH, Minnesota will be exploring different aspects of the prescription drug market that impact drug affordability. The inaugural list focuses on groups of medications – drug products that share a generic name and dosage form – where the total amounts paid (consumer and insurer payments) were significantly above drug manufacturer list prices.

Following engagement with stakeholders and a review of data available in the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database, MDH’s Prescription Drug Price Transparency program identified the top 10 groups of medications with the greatest absolute difference between the total paid amount for commercial claims and the total list price.

More than one-third of retail drugs (37%) dispensed in the private market meet the list criteria: They cost at least $100 and have paid amounts of 25% or more above the manufacturer list price. The list of drugs MDH will be collecting data on is just the tip of the iceberg as it focuses on the 10 drug families with highest “mark-up” above list price. This mark-up above the list price effectively doubled spending on prescription drugs, and Minnesotans ended up paying more than $345 million in 2022 above manufacturer prices.

“This data will also be of interest to legislators and advocates as they craft targeted policies to improve affordability,” said State Health Economist and Director of MDH's Health Economics Program Stefan Gildemeister. “Researchers and the industry will benefit from this information, which will be the first true accounting of movement of money between entities in the prescription drug supply chain.”

“Nobody should be forced to choose between affording their life and affording to live, but the high cost of prescription drugs forces that choice onto so many Minnesotans,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “I am pleased that the Minnesota Department of Health is bringing some much-needed transparency to the prescription drug market. That transparency is essential to ensuring policymakers have the information needed to take action to lower drug prices, which is why increasing transparency in the prescription drug market was one of the key recommendations from my Advisory Task Force on Lowering Pharmaceutical Drug Prices. This is a great step towards building a better Minnesota where everyone can afford their lives.”

In addition to the list of public interest drugs, MDH also released updated reporting guidelines for entities subject to reporting. These entities will have approximately 90 days from now to file their initial reports. The reports will then be made available to the public in both downloadable files and data dashboards along with MDH analyses and data presentations in existing drug price transparency dashboards and legislative reports .

MDH is also interested in hearing from Minnesotans about how prescription drug prices impact their health care, what affordability concerns exist, and which drugs might benefit from pricing transparency. Minnesotans interested in providing their insights can complete the Public Input on Prescription Drug Price Transparency in Minnesota form to share their experiences and help guide MDH’s ongoing drug price transparency work.

More information on MDH’s prescription drug price transparency efforts is available on the MDH Prescription Drug Price Transparency webpage.