Maryland PDAB
Patient and Public Engagement
Individuals or organizations who wish to comment on Board activities are encouraged to review past Board meeting minutes, submitted public comments, and other relevant documents via the Board website.
Notably, the Board is currently inviting feedback on why substituting therapeutic alternatives could be problematic, highlighting an openness to understanding patient-specific treatment needs. Rapid, repeated comment opportunities create a participation burden that can narrow who meaningfully shapes the process.
Public Comment Submission
To provide verbal comments to the PDAB or PDASC, please sign up by emailing: [email protected] up to 5 days before the meeting. Comments will be limited to 1 minute and thirty seconds per person.
To provide written comments to the PDAB or PDASC, please email [email protected] up to 5 days before the meeting.
Listserv
To receive PDAB and PDASC updates directly in your inbox, click here. To subscribe, you will need to enter your email and then choose Subscription Topics > Prescription Drug Affordability Board > Board Meetings.
For questions, comments, or accessibility issues, email PDAB staff at [email protected].
Next Meetings
The next PDAB meeting will be on 11/16 and the next PDASC meeting will be on a 12/14.
HealthHIV’s Comments
September 23, 2026
HealthHIV’s comments for the Maryland PDAB’s September 2026 meeting supported the Board’s proposed addition of additional patient representation to the PDASC (Prescription Drug Affordability Stakeholder Council), while also noting that the Board should add patient representation to the Board itself. Additionally, the comments noted that the Board should focus clearly on out-of-pocket costs while maintaining treatment access, prioritize provider and patient decision-making to safeguard individualized care and improve health outcomes, and ensure that quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are excluded from the process and methodology used to evaluate drug affordability.
June 1, 2026
HealthHIV’s comments on draft COMAR 14.01.04 urged the Board to require condition-specific input before identifying therapeutic alternatives for HIV treatment, or prevention medications. The comments emphasized that the Board should consider clinical appropriateness, patient access through coverage and pharmacy channels, and effects on Ryan White, ADAP, Medicaid, and other safety-net systems. HealthHIV also noted that a 30-day comment period won’t provide enough time to develop that evidence. The Board considered cutting the public comment period on selected drugs from 60 days to 30 so comments could be reviewed before the next meeting. Members worried that 30 days could be too short for stakeholders and still might not fit staff’s dossier timeline, so they left the 60-day period in place for now and agreed to revisit it next year.
Stakeholder Council Activities: October 26th Meeting
During this meeting, the Stakeholder Council spent the bulk of the time on a panel regarding innovation, access, and affordability (framed as such).
The panel included representatives from ICER (the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review), PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America), Tigerlily Foundation, and the Commissioner, of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (who was also formerly involved in Medicare’s Drug Price Negotiation Program). It was emphasized that smaller insurance pools face serious challenges in paying for costly drugs, that the potential equity and systems pitfalls of Most Favored Nation policies are clear, and that the need for holistic and rigorous conversations regarding health systems reform is ongoing.
This meeting represented a potentially helpful step toward the Stakeholder Council, and the Board, considering a more holistic approach to health systems reform.
Board Activities: September 28th Meeting
This meeting largely focused on the review and approval of key Board administrative items, including adjusted bylaws (which HealthHIV had submitted comments regarding), the selection of Board member Dr. Benjamin as the interim Board Chair, and a brief logistical update on the Board’s progress regarding the dossiers that will soon be posted on Dupixent and Skyrizi. Notably, Bonnie Cullison will also take office as a more permanent Board chair on January 1st, 2027.
