Larry Zarzecki, a resident of White Marsh, has Parkinson’s disease. Over the span of three years, he went through his IRA and sold his house in order to cover the out-of-pocket costs for his drugs.

“Each year, prescription drugs became more and more and more expensive,” Zarzecki said. “Over the past few years, it’s gotten so out of hand with the cost of the other prescription drugs that I take to function.”

Zarzecki is one of the 25% of American who have trouble affording their prescription drugs due to high out-of-pocket costs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Americans spend an average of $1,300 a year on their prescription medications. That’s compared to about $550 for other comparable countries.

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Maryland will soon be the first state in the country with a functional Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which aims at bringing down the high prices of some prescription drugs.

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