Posted on 02/10/2005 5:30:21 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to provide prescription drug discounts to the uninsured "provides a reasonable starting point," the Legislative Analyst's Office said Thursday, but the report suggests stiffening his voluntary approach with drug manufacturers.
Lawmakers should add an automatic trigger replacing Schwarzenegger's voluntary rebate proposal with mandatory incentives if drug makers fail to keep promises to cut prices significantly, the analyst said.
That alternative would likely bring consumers larger discounts on more drugs, but result in a lengthy court challenge, the analyst said.
A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman praised the report for recognizing that the administration is offering "the only proposal that will provide immediate relief" without a legal battle. But Health and Human Services Agency spokeswoman Nicole Kasabian-Evans disagreed with the proposal to add backup sanctions.
The national debate over trimming soaring prescription costs may reach California's ballot box. Five variations of affordable prescription drug initiatives are awaiting administrative review by the state attorney general before backers can begin collecting signatures.
Schwarzenegger promoted his California Rx program in last month's State of the State address; with $3.9 million for administrative costs in his proposed budget; and in a bill by Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento.
Low- and moderate-income residents - individuals earning up to about $28,000 and a family of four with an annual income of $56,500 - would pay $15 a year to get a discount card.
The program is aimed mainly at the estimated 6 million Californians without health insurance, and the administration estimates as many as 5 million residents would enroll.
Pharmacies would voluntarily accept the card and sell prescription drugs at a discount negotiated with the state, and drug manufacturers would provide additional negotiated rebates.
The administration's goal is to provide drugs at a roughly 40 percent discount from retail prices, but the analyst said that's far short of the 60 percent to 65 percent discounts available under the state's Medi-Cal program.
The disadvantage is drug makers might not volunteer to include all drugs in the program, the analyst reported, though the administration would seek federal incentives to encourage participation.
Iowa had little luck with its voluntary approach, when just three of 20 drug companies agreed to participate. Better to mimic Maine, which required rebates from any company that wanted to participate significantly in that state's Medicaid program, the analyst said. There, 20 companies are cutting prices on 200 drugs by up to 60 percent.
Some advocacy groups fear such a link might slow drug treatments for Medicaid recipients.
"It would put a very vulnerable population at risk by using them as a leveraging tool," added administration spokeswoman Kasabian-Evans.
Schwarzenegger and the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association negotiated the compromise measure Ortiz is carrying, but the senator said she wants to push the administration closer to her original proposal.
That measure included residents who earn as much as four times the federal poverty level, instead of the three times negotiated by Schwarzenegger. Her original proposal also included a "hammer" that Ortiz said would guarantee wide participation and steep discounts, but she said the administration remains adamantly opposed.
Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, meanwhile, said the report backs his and critics' view that Schwarzenegger's program doesn't include the teeth that would bring significant discounts.
On the upside, the Legislative Analyst said Schwarzenegger's plan greatly expands the state's current discount programs while avoiding a lengthy legal challenge. Also, PhRMA also has agreed to spend $10 million over two years to promote and operate toll-free telephone numbers and Internet sites for discount drug programs.
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On the Net:
Read the Legislative Analyst's report at www.lao.ca.gov
Read Ortiz' bill, SB19, and Frommer's alternative, AB75, at www.leginfo.ca.gov
Read the proposed initiatives at www.ss.ca.gov
bump
Why can't they just cut the budget before adding more to it? Never made any sense to me.
Thats because you have common sense.
If somone lacks common sense, then they get to be a politician.
Yep, I live here in California and our politicians - Arnold included - are a bunch of spendthrift liberals. There are some good Republican lawmakers, but they have no power.
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