Deal Is Reached for Prescriptions Discount
By Jordan Rau, Times Staff Writer
August 22, 2006
Sacramento, Calif. -- More than 5 million Californians with moderate incomes would receive substantial discounts on prescription medicines under a deal that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders reached over the opposition of the drug industry, negotiators said Tuesday.
The price-reduction program, a showpiece for Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign, is based on an approach his own health advisers repudiated last year as dangerous for poor people and legally questionable.
The plan would give the drug industry three years to voluntarily negotiate discounts with the state on behalf of people who earn up to triple the federal poverty level, or about $60,000 a year for a family of four. An additional 400,000 people who earn somewhat more but face debilitating medical bills would also be eligible.
The discounts would take as much as 40 percent off brand-name drugs and up to 60 percent off generic medicines, according to lawmakers and Schwarzenegger administration officials.
In a major concession, Schwarzenegger agreed that companies that don't offer sufficient markdowns could be impeded from selling drugs through Medi-Cal, a $2 billion market that serves millions of Californians. In return, Democrats agreed to give the industry time to comply, and agreed to the income limit Schwarzenegger wanted....
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-drugs23aug23,0,7427411.story?coll=la-home-headlines
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