FRESNO (KMJ) — A bid to bring down price the State of California pays for prescriptions could have an impact on the amount paid by every one of its residents.
That’s according The California Nurses Association, a group backing a ‘yes’ for Proposition 61. Voting it in it would require state agencies to pay the same price that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays for its medication.
The association is hoping it’s approval will start to reign in what they describe as “astronomical drug prices” charged by the industry.
“The public is going to be outraged at the prices they’re going to pay”, explains Kaiser Permanente Nurse Amy Arlund. “They’re really going to start putting pressure on the pharmaceutical industry as a whole [to lower costs]”.
She says they know first-hand what the impact is to their patients.
“They have to choose between one life saving medication and another.
“A lot of our patients have to play what we call Russian Roulette, where if they have five different prescriptions they have to pick which one this month they have to have”.
“We have seen patients that have gone without food, without gas for their cars, because their medication is so important.
“We see diabetics rationing their insulin dosages and not controlling their sugars because the cost of insulin has gone up over $600 in the last few years”.
Those against the proposition say it’ll actually increase costs, stating that the Department of Veterans Affairs will have to up the amount they spend on drugs by $3.8 billion every year.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
