A Maryland panel created to address the high cost of prescription drugs took the first step in capping the cost of a common diabetes drug and will soon turn to the blockbuster weight loss drug Ozempic, officials said Wednesday.

Maryland was the first state in 2019 to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board aimed at reining in prices that are driving up insurance costs and weighing on government and family budgets.

Earlier in the week, the board limited how much state and local governments would pay for Jardiance in their workers’ health insurance plans beginning in 2027.

“People thought this was a radical concept, but nothing could be further from the truth,” House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk said during a Wednesday news conference, touting wide public support for controlling runaway costs.

Peña-Melnyk sponsored the bill to create the board when she chaired the Health Committee.

Other lawmakers who joined her at the Episcopal Diocese Center in Baltimore on Wednesday noted about a dozen other states have established boards since Maryland did. Gov. Wes Moore, who appeared via video at the new event, said more should consider such a move.

“I encourage governors and lawmakers across the country to explore similar ways to stop the upward spiral in drug costs, because the strength of the state begins with the health and well-being of those living there,” Moore said.

Lawmakers said work had been delayed by multiple hurdles from the start of the process, including a legal complaint filed against an earlier law designed to combat price gouging. But the board is now able to officially set the upper payment limit costs for Jardiance in state and local health insurance plans.

The caps could affect hundreds of thousands of workers covered by state and local health plans beginning in January. Limits could roll out to all commercial plans a year later.

The lawmakers pointed to an analysis commissioned by the advocacy group Maryland Health Care for All that found the move on one drug would add up to $16 million once it expanded to all government and commercial plans.

If the panel sets limits for Ozempic, savings could be vastly higher and expand access in part because some government plans aren’t now covering the costly new drug, officials said. Savings could reach $165 million when the caps are fully implemented.

Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Health Care for All, said the board needs to approve caps on Ozempic in upcoming meetings.

If it does, DeMarco said, the caps could be put in place for government-sponsored insurance by 2027 and the private market the following year.

Cost controls on many more drugs could be considered after that.

DeMarco said prescription drugs have become a major cost, particularly to local governments, at least one of which he said pays more for pharmaceuticals than libraries.

“The board’s actions could expand access, control premiums and out-of-pocket costs, all of it,” he said.