(KLIX) – A bill that expands the types of organizations that can accept donated prescription drugs and the people who qualify to use them is one step closer to a decision after the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee advanced the legislation on Monday.

The proposed legislation, sponsored by Rep. Sue Chew, D-Boise, passed the print hearing and will get a full hearing before the committee later this session.

“With prescription drug prices so out of control, we have to do everything we can to ensure that Idahoans who can’t afford medicine can be helped,” Chew said in a statement sent to News Radio 1310. “I believe this is a safe and meaningful way to offer that kind of relief to the people who are least able to afford prescription medication.”

The bill qualifies who may receive donated drugs and sets standards for what kinds of prescription drugs can be donated. Members of the public may donate unused prescription drugs so long as they meet specifications under the law. Among other things, it describes what condition the drugs must be in and how old they can be when donated.

“Drugs donated by an individual member of the public,” for instance, “must be in the manufacturers original sealed packaging,” the bill reads in one section.

Another describes that repositories may only accept drugs that, among other requirements, “bear a clear and verifiable lot number and expiration date.”

In short, the proposed legislation updates and modernizes Idaho’s Legend Drug Donation Act, Chew said, and has no impact on the state’s general fund.

She said the bill is “intended for the neediest of our citizens, the ones who truly have no other option to get their medicine.”

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