Sick of Being Bombarded by Drug Company Ads That Lie To You?
What is Proposition 61?
It is a measure that will be submitted to the voters for their approval on the November 2016 ballot that will make a start on getting the exorbitant prices of prescription drugs under control – and, save California taxpayers billions at the same time.
How would it work?
If voters pass the measure, the State of California would be required to pay no more for prescription drugs than is paid for the same medication by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It could also negotiate for prices below those paid by the Department. This would encompass all drug purchases in which the State is the ultimate payer, whether it purchased the drugs directly from the pharmaceutical companies or not.
Why use the Department of Veterans Affairs as the standard for drug pricing?
Because unlike some entities of the federal government – Medicare, for example – the Dept. of Veterans Affairs is empowered by law to use its bargaining power to negotiate the prices of drugs used in the agency’s provision of health-care services to veterans. As a result, data show that the Department pays on average 20-24% less for drugs than other government agencies.
The Dept. of Veterans Affairs even pays 40% less for drugs than Medicare Part D (the prescription-drug program for seniors). When Part D was established by the George W. Bush Administration, Medicare was specifically banned by law from using its huge bargaining power to negotiate for lower drug prices for seniors – a huge and unconscionable giveaway to the drug companies.
These prices are also publicly available according to he VA, so why shouldn’t we use the lowest domestic price for prescription rugs as our standard?
In addition, Drug Companies cannot exorbitantly raise the price of drugs the VA provides due to the Veterans Healthcare Act of 1992, which placed a series of limits on Big Pharma in regard to VA prices. This happened because in the early 90’s drug companies were doing the same thing to Veterans as they are to every day Californians now. It works for the VA, and it will work for California.
Who will benefit from this initiative?
Ultimately, millions of Californians would benefit if this proposal passes. The millions of income-tax payers would see the state save billions of dollars on drug purchases – freeing up funds to redirect to other critical health-care needs. Taxpayers would also save directly because their tax dollars pay the drug costs for the 112,000 inmates in California state prisons. The nearly five million Californians who are non-HMO participants in Medi-Cal, and who are members of CalPERS, and the 31,000 participants in the AIDS Drug Assistance program (ADAP), could also benefit from lower co-pays and deductibles for drug purchases. In addition, this proposal could ultimately force the drug companies to moderate price increases across the board, based on public pressure and the lowered prices of state-purchased drugs.
Why are Medi-Cal managed care plans exempted from the initiative?
Medi-Cal managed-care organizations already negotiate with drug companies on prices, and pay for the drugs themselves out of premiums. Medi-Cal has both a managed-care component and a fee-for-service component. As well as directly affecting the fee-for-service prices, this initiative will ultimately lower drug costs in the Medi-Cal managed-care programs, too.
Medi-Cal pays managed-care providers based on the cost of care in the fee-for-service program, so as drug prices decline for fee-for-service patients, Medi-Cal will pay lower costs on the managed-care side as well. The taxpayers will save money in both parts of Medi-Cal. Why should United Healthcare, Kaiser, and other companies be allowed to negotiate lower drug prices, but not the State of California?
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