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CA: Prescription drug discount bill heads to governor's desk
AP on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 8/30/06 | Robin Hindery - ap

Posted on 08/30/2006 8:20:44 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

As many as 6 million Californians would benefit from legislation sent Wednesday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would impose mandatory prescription drug discounts.

Schwarzenegger has said he will sign the bill, the result of negotiations between his staff and the Legislature's Democratic leadership.

"With prescription drug costs contributing to more than 8 percent of health care inflation, this is a critical step in addressing access to affordable health care," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

The bill, by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, passed a final Assembly vote 42-28, with lawmakers sticking to party lines.

"This is an opportunity to finally do the right thing for families choosing between buying gasoline for their cars and buying their prescription drugs," Nunez said.

The bill will give discounts of about 40 percent for name-brand drugs and 60 percent for generics to people who otherwise would have to pay full retail price. The enrollment fee will be $10 a year.

Discounts will be limited to households that make up to three times the federal poverty level, or about $60,000 a year for a family of four, instead of the $66,000 Democrats had originally proposed.

Drug companies, which oppose the plan, will have until Aug. 1, 2010, to comply voluntarily. If they fail to meet the benchmark discount levels, they face being taken off the preferred drug list used by the state Medi-Cal program, which provides about $4 billion in drugs annually to the poor and elderly.

Such a shutout would have to be approved by the federal government. Under the bill, it could not cost the state money nor prevent a Medi-Cal patient from receiving an existing drug regime.

The drug industry and many Republican lawmakers have criticized the measure as too heavy-handed and have warned that forcing price cuts would actually hurt those it is trying to help.

The compliance deadline "will have one effect - using the most vulnerable in society as pawns in a chess game between the state and drug companies," said Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton.

Republicans also argued that the plan would increase health insurance costs, threaten the jobs of thousands of drug industry employees and even jeopardize future drug development.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, said the high cost of bringing a drug to market - which he estimated at $800 million to $1 billion - would mean that not as many drugs would be developed if price controls were implemented.

Supporters said history has shown that volunteer programs have not been successful enough at reducing consumer costs.

"This is a very equitable compromise," said Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, who said it offers companies a chance to comply on their own but then "gives the administration some teeth" to take action if they refuse.

Here are some of the other measures voted on Wednesday by the Legislature:

GAYS-MURDER - The Assembly voted along party lines to pass AB1160 by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-San Jose, which would limit the use of the so-called "gay panic defense" in murder cases.

That term describes a strategy in which a defendant argues that his or her rage after discovering that a victim was gay or transgender led to the killing - therefore reducing the offense from murder to manslaughter.

Lieber's bill would also require judges to instruct juries that bias against a victim's sexual orientation cannot enter into final jury deliberations and findings.

Republicans argued that it was not the Legislature's job to influence jury instruction.

The 44-28 vote approved Senate amendments to the bill and sent it to the governor.

FLOOD PROTECTION - A flood-protection bill that would increase accountability on the board responsible for the state's aging levees received just enough Assembly votes to pass.

SB1796 by Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, was the first of eight shelved flood bills to make it through the Assembly.

The bill would add two members to the current, governor-appointed board, both selected by the Legislature. It would also increase eligibility requirements for board members in an effort to increase the body's professional expertise.

The measure passed 41-23 and was return to the Senate for a vote on Assembly amendments.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: ab1160; bill; california; callegislation; discount; prescriptiondrug; sb1796; sb2911; schwarzenegger

1 posted on 08/30/2006 8:20:45 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

So why don't the "geniuses" then MANDATE that gas costs $1 per gallon, steak is 50 cents a pound, houses con't cost over 100,000 and cars 3500.00? Wouldn't that "help" all those people trying to pay their bills? Are democrats retarded? Don't they realize that this is going to cause the same thing that always happens when you artificially cap prices? Shortages and loss of quality.


2 posted on 08/30/2006 10:29:28 PM PDT by boop (Now Greg, you know I don't like that WORD!)
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To: boop

Wonder where they got the idea of 40%? This makes me really mad.


3 posted on 08/30/2006 10:39:41 PM PDT by ClaireSolt (.All generalizations are false, including this one.)
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To: NormsRevenge
Idiots. Why not force oil companies to give motorists a discount for gas? Why not force grocery stores to give shoppers a discount for food and drink? Why not force restaurants to give diners a discount for eating out? Why stop with the drug companies? What they really want is for them to give away drugs for free but even these economic illiterates know that's idiotic. I guess we need government to dictate prices since we can't rely on market competition to make that happen. One step towards socialism in California.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

4 posted on 08/30/2006 10:57:27 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: NormsRevenge

I watched some of the floor sessions in the Assembly and Senate yesterday and today. I watched as they passed the most outrageous bills, most with 100% Republican opposition. Here are a few I recall:

--The Green Building program
--Mandating that 10% of the $3Billion solar initiative be used on Affordable Housing
--Minimum Wage hikes (espousing the "living wage" ideal)
--Several more GLBT bills
--etc. etc. etc.

Socialism is alive and well in Sacramento. And the Veto pen seems to be dormant.


5 posted on 08/30/2006 11:04:09 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: calcowgirl
You ain't seen nuthin' yet. Beside Arnold, Gray Davis now seems downright conservative!

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

6 posted on 08/30/2006 11:05:51 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
Beside Arnold, Gray Davis now seems downright conservative!

So much for those "tiny steps" in advancing conservatism, huh?
We are moving left--in huge leaps!

7 posted on 08/30/2006 11:08:12 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: calcowgirl

"Conservative" Republican Gov Arnold S. is like the straight guy who wanders into a gay biker bar and is forced to the the "she" for numerous gay guys, and finds he liked it.


8 posted on 08/31/2006 11:47:32 AM PDT by OldArmy52 (China & India: Doing jobs Americans don't want to do (manuf., engineering, accounting, etc))
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