Posted on 09/15/2006 1:58:35 PM PDT by calcowgirl
Ensuring that all Californians have access to the vital prescription medication they need to live long and healthy lives is an important priority for our state.
However, we believe a misguided proposal recently passed by the Legislature and awaiting action by the governor is the wrong approach for our state, one which threatens the development of new drugs and undermines access to critical medications for Medi-Cal patients.
Assembly Bill 2911, authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, enacts a prescription drug discount plan that will provide drug subsidies for some Californians through what is effectively a price control scheme.
History tells us that when you force companies to cut costs through price controls, these costs will come out of another area of the company’s budget, such as research and development. In effect, AB 2911 could jeopardize the development of life-saving drugs for all 35 million Californians. It would also threaten the jobs of thousands of researchers and scientists in the bioscience industry, who work hard every day to discover the cures to devastating diseases.
There is a great deal of doubt as to whether AB 2911 can be enforced in California in the first place. Under federal law, any state proposal that uses the Medi-Cal program and affects access to drugs for the needy requires federal approval. In fact, the federal government has never approved such a state program as is being proposed under AB 2911, and we don’t believe they will any time soon.
Even more troubling is that fact that the bills vague language invites participation in the program by any “resident” of California, which could have the unintended consequences of extending prescription drug benefits to illegal immigrants living in California.
Making prescription drug benefits available to illegal immigrants will provide a costly incentive for even more illegals to locate in our state, undermining state and federal efforts to curtail illegal immigration into California. It also disrespects the hard work and many sacrifices made by millions of legal immigrants living in California who played by the rules, waiting for their chance at the American dream, only to see those who intentionally disobeyed our laws cut to the front of the line.
While Republicans have many serious concerns about AB 2911, this does not mean that our commitment to improving the quality of health care in California is any less. We believe that market-based solutions like health savings accounts are the better approach to ensure that Californians have access to affordable prescription drugs. Health savings accounts allow participants to set aside money from their paychecks every month tax free, to spend on the prescription medications they need for continued good health. This approach puts consumers in charge of their health care decision making again, not government bureaucrats.
Republicans believe that Californians deserve the right to choose the prescription drug plan that is best for them – one that keeps the government bureaucrats out of their medicine cabinet and out of their doctor’s office. While well-intentioned, we believe AB 2911 falls short on many accounts and should be rejected.
Could have? My guess is it was by design.
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