Access to quality, affordable health care coverage is a critical concern for communities across Colorado, and it’s an issue that disproportionately affects underrepresented groups, including small business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs and working families. Despite years of legislative proposals to reduce health care costs, many Coloradans continue to face burdensome prescription drug prices. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, the average annual premium for employer-sponsored coverage for families in 2023 was $23,980 in Colorado.

Unfortunately, lawmakers now consider House Bill 1094, a proposal to increase health care costs for millions of Coloradans — especially patients, employers, union members and the families who rely on the commercial market for their health insurance. Though the bill purports to offer a solution, it will instead result in higher premiums, draining financial resources from families and small businesses, all while delivering a substantial payout to pharmaceutical companies that continue to push for this legislation in state capitols across the country.

HB-1094 targets the role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), which negotiate drug prices between insurers, employers, unions and pharmaceutical companies. The bill undermines the pay-for-performance model that has allowed PBMs to secure significant savings on prescription drugs. This model plays a crucial role in keeping drug prices in check, especially as pharmaceutical companies continue to raise prices year after year — in fact, we saw a 4.5% increase in drug prices just in January of this year.

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By “delinking” PBM compensation from the savings they secure for employers and unions, HB-1094 jeopardizes the system crucial in negotiating lower drug prices. The result? Colorado patients and families bear the financial burden of this misguided proposal. Research shows HB 1094 will lead to a $118 million increase in premiums in just the first year alone, directly affecting more than 3.3 million Coloradans who rely on the commercial market for their health insurance.

Coloradans are not fooled. This proposal is another tactic from the pharmaceutical industry to cut out the only actors standing between them and sky-high drug prices. As Dr. Joey Mattingly, vice president of research at the University of Utah’s College of Pharmacy, said in a recent U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing: “If you remove the PBM from the equation today, who or what steps in to fill that void?” Without PBMs negotiating on behalf of employers and unions, Big Pharma will face fewer restrictions and will have the power to charge whatever prices they deem fit.

This bill benefits Big Pharma, not Coloradans. The result would be a massive financial transfer from patients and taxpayers to pharmaceutical manufacturers and retail pharmacy companies. By prioritizing Big Pharma profits over the well-being of Colorado families and communities, this legislation would undermine the very health care reforms our state so desperately needs.

The truth is Coloradans cannot afford an additional $118 million in premium increases, and the stakes are even higher in the years to come. If HB-1094 passes, we will see a mountain of new financial strain placed on families already struggling with elevated costs for everyday necessities.

As a community leader and the executive director of WDC, I work every day to empower individuals — especially those from underrepresented communities — to build economic prosperity. It is my responsibility to speak out against this bill, which puts profits before people and will only further strain the financial stability of our most vulnerable populations. Coloradans deserve affordable health care, not a windfall for Big Pharma.

I urge the Colorado House of Representatives and the entire legislature to reject HB-1094 and instead focus on real solutions that prioritize health care affordability and economic stability for all Colorado families and communities.

Maya Wheeler is executive director at Wezesha Dada Center.