Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices wanted to “stop drug company greed” by guaranteeing that the drug purchases by the state are lowered. But the officials with initiative’s chief opponent said that the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act initiative is “a deceptive and vaguely worded ballot issue” that would not accomplish what it sets out to do. California voters have rejected a similar initiative in the November 2016.
Ohioans are now seeing the same start of advertising campaigns that are surrounding the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act, which will appear on 7th November ballot.
The citizen-initiated issue would mandate the drug companies sell at the same price it does the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and also prohibit the state agencies, such as the Ohio Bureau of Prisons or the Ohio Department of Medicaid, from negotiating any price that is not at least a 20 percent to 24 percent discount.
“The reality of drug prices coming down through a legislative process is just probably not realistic with the power and the money the drug industry spends,” said Rick Taylor, the California-based consultant with the Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices. “What we’re saying here, let’s have the citizens of Ohio have a say.”
But Dale Butland, with Ohioans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue group, says the measure impacts less than 4 million people, three-fourths of whom receive Medicaid coverage and prescription medications at a 23 percent discount.
“Most of the people in the state, 7 million people, don’t get their drugs through a state program; they get it through private insurance.Those people are left out of this,” Butland said.
And state-negotiated prices could be passed onto the rest of Ohio, he said.
A 74-page study produced by former Ohio Medicaid officials, which was funded by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, surmised it’s not possible to determine how much the VA is really paying for prescription medication.
Butland said the added discount the VA receives is “proprietary” and likely would be eliminated if the proposed initiative passes.
Officials with the Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Tax Prices confirmed that Ohioans won’t see an immediate impact, but Taylor said taxpayers will see an overall savings between $400 million to $700 million — and “this could potentially take care of” a sizable chunk of the governor’s projected $800 million budget deficit.
Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices will make its case to the voting public with familiar stories of Ohioans.
“I think that everyone knows a pharmaceutical horror story. Everyone knows something that someone needs or has been prescribed that they can’t afford, or they can’t afford an insurance policy that could bring that drug to them,” said David Little, a consultant with the Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices. “Being alive or dead shouldn’t depend on your financial position.”
The campaign is expected to be costly, especially since a record $128 million was spent in the California campaign. Television commercials for and against the issue launched last month.
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Mrudula Duddempudi.
