Prescription Drug Prices Threaten California’s Black Businesses

By Ahmad Holmes | Special To The OBSERVER

OPINION – Across California, African American entrepreneurs are driving innovation, creating jobs, and fueling local economies. But while our business community continues to grow, we face a challenge that no amount of grit or determination can overcome: the unsustainable cost of prescription drugs. 

Pharmaceutical manufacturers have turned health care into one of the biggest expenses for working families and small businesses alike. Every year, drugmakers raise prices on medications that millions depend on, from diabetes treatments to asthma inhalers. And every year, those price hikes eat away at household budgets, employer health plans, and the economic stability of entire communities. 

For California’s Black families, the burden is heavier still. We are more likely to live with chronic conditions that require ongoing treatment, yet less likely to be able to absorb repeated price increases. Each time drug prices rise, patients are forced to make impossible choices between their prescriptions, rent, or food. When prescriptions become unaffordable, health outcomes worsen — and the ripple effects reach directly into our businesses. 

When employees are unable to access the medicines they need, untreated conditions can lead to higher health care costs, more time away for treatment, and added strain on employer-sponsored insurance. For small businesses, particularly those owned by African Americans, these pressures can be the difference between growth and survival. Prescription drug affordability is not just about personal health — it is about economic stability for families, businesses, and the communities they support. 

This is why the California African American Chamber of Commerce is deeply concerned with Senate Bill 41. Though it is promoted as a measure to help patients, the reality is it has been vetoed before for a simple reason: it drives up costs. By weakening the checks and balances that keep drug prices in line, SB 41 hands pharmaceutical manufacturers more control over what Californians pay at the pharmacy counter. The bill would do nothing to help small businesses, workers, or families — and everything to increase profits for drugmakers. 

The stakes could not be higher.

One in three Americans already say they struggle to afford their prescriptions, and Black seniors are nearly twice as likely as white seniors to report difficulty paying for medication. These aren’t abstract statistics; they represent our employees, our business owners, and our communities. 

California should be leading the way toward real solutions. That means promoting access to affordable generics and biosimilars, demanding transparency in how drugs are priced, and using the state’s leverage to negotiate better deals for consumers. These kinds of reforms would give families relief and help businesses redirect resources toward hiring, innovation, and growth. 

Instead, SB 41 moves us backward at precisely the wrong time. African American businesses are already navigating economic headwinds and working to recover from the pandemic’s lasting impacts. The last thing we need is legislation that makes health care more expensive and less accessible. 

The California African American Chamber of Commerce stands for policies that strengthen both health and economic opportunity. We cannot separate the two. Healthy workers are productive workers. Affordable health care supports thriving businesses. And when small businesses succeed, the entire state’s economy benefits. 

California leaders must reject industry-backed policies like SB 41 and commit instead to standing with the families and businesses who are paying the price for pharmaceutical manufacturers’ relentless price increases. 

Because no business owner should have to choose between covering the cost of their employees’ health care and keeping their doors open. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ahmad Holmes is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the California African American Chamber of Commerce, which advocates for the interests of Black-owned businesses and African American entrepreneurs.