Senate President Karen Spilka mentioned she doesn’t help Gov. Maura Healey’s try to resurrect a tax on prescribed drugs within the fiscal 12 months 2026 funds, a stance that marks one other setback for a measure the governor mentioned might increase greater than $100 million for state coffers.
Spilka’s opposition to Healey’s plan to revive a pharmacy evaluation on prescribed drugs bought in Massachusetts surfaced a couple of week after Home Speaker Ron Mariano mentioned his chamber wouldn’t embody any new taxes on prescribed drugs of their fiscal 12 months 2026 spending plan.
After an unrelated occasion Monday afternoon on the State Home, Spilka mentioned “no” when requested if she personally supported Healey’s effort to incorporate the pharmacy evaluation within the funds for the following fiscal 12 months.
“I have heard some concerns,” Spilka instructed the Herald. “I think at this point in time we should … not be going down the path of that kind of tax. I don’t think it’s right, right now.”
Spilka additionally threw chilly water on different tax will increase the governor labored into her fiscal 12 months 2026 funds proposal, like making use of the gross sales tax to sweet purchases.
“I haven’t heard from many senators who want to include (the pharmacy assessment), or the candy tax, or some of the other taxes,” the Ashland Democrat mentioned.
Healey included the pharmacy evaluation in her $62 billion fiscal 12 months 2026 funds as a option to increase an estimated $145 million by charging pharmacies $2 or 6% per prescription, whichever is much less.
The cash raised from the tax would fund MassHealth and assist forestall pharmacies from closing in low-income neighborhoods, Healey administration officers have mentioned.
However the proposal has generated fierce pushback from critics who’ve argued it might create value burdens for individuals who depend on remedy to hold out their day by day lives.
A Healey spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Monday about Spilka’s opposition to the thought.
At a pharmaceutical convention final week, Mariano mentioned Home lawmakers wouldn’t embody “any taxes on prescription drugs in our budget.”
“That means no arbitrary taxes tied to a drug’s list price, or on our consumers filling prescriptions,” the Quincy Democrat mentioned.
The governor additionally pitched taxing prescription drug producers for “excessive” worth will increase, a transfer the Healey administration mentioned might herald one other $60 million. That concept additionally confronted skepticism at a legislative listening to earlier this month.
Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, a Gloucester Democrat, requested Healey how the penalty on extreme drug pricing wouldn’t be transferred onto customers.
“One accomplishment that we didn’t mention last year that we did was the containment of some prescription drugs for patients and consumers that lowered costs dramatically. And some of my constituents are concerned that that’s going to be negated by a transfer of penalty back to the patient or consumer when they pick up their prescription drugs,” Ferrante mentioned to Healey.
Healey mentioned she needs to ensure “people have access to care” as pharmacies shut in neighborhoods throughout the state.
“Part of what the thought is, is to think about ways to ensure that more pharmacies stay in place. It is not to pass on costs to people who, right now in Massachusetts, can’t afford prescription drugs, can’t afford health care that they need,” Healey instructed Ferrante.
Supplies from the State Home Information Service have been used on this report.
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