Prometheus 6

Quote of note:

Drug makers consider the governor's plan far more preferable than the Health Access and Frommer approaches. Their plans would cover more people than Schwarzenegger's, requiring discounts for anyone earning less than four times the federal poverty level ($38,200 for an individual or $77,400 for a family of four). People with incomes above that who spend a disproportionate amount on medical expenses also would be eligible.

Most disturbing to the industry is that under the Health Access and Frommer proposals, drug companies that do not consent to the discounts could be shut out of a prized market: the state's huge Medi-Cal program, which annually buys $3 billion worth of drugs for the poor.

"The prescription drug companies have admitted with their initiative that their drug prices are too high," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access. "The question is, should the state use its leverage to bargain for better prices, or should it just rely on the goodwill of the industry?"

Industry Aims to Defeat Discount Drug Initiatives
By Jordan Rau
Times Staff Writer
March 28, 2005

SACRAMENTO   Facing pressure from many states to provide cheaper prescription drugs, the pharmaceutical industry has launched its most aggressive counterattack in California, where the issue is threatening to explode on the ballot as early as this fall.

The industry already has raised an unprecedented $8.6 million to defeat a ballot initiative being readied by Health Access California, an Oakland-based nonprofit, even before the authors have gathered enough signatures to qualify it for the next election.

The Health Access measure would compel drug makers to offer discounts to 6 million to 10 million Californians   making a substantial dent in the industry's profits and offering what it considers an unwelcome model for other states to follow.

The companies are treating that approach, which is paralleled by Democratic legislation pending in the state Assembly, as far graver than last year's press to allow the importation of Canadian drugs.

Drug firms also are threatening retaliatory initiatives aimed at trial lawyers and unions, which are most likely to be donors to Health Access' ballot measure. And they have hired three of Sacramento's best-connected Democratic strategists —  including former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown —  to cut a deal with the Democrat-controlled Legislature and avert a ballot battle.