Something to Know - 26 September

Ti's the season for the barrage of TV campaign ads.  It is always difficult to really tell what the issue is and what is the correct vote.  One issue, California State Prop. 61, is a very interesting one to look into.  The NO ad has all these Veterans saying that if it passes, they will have to pay more for medications.   So, why is that?   Here is the voter information guide on that issue: 

  http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/quick-reference-guide/61.htm

Basically, the proposition mandates that the State of California, mostly through its Cal Med of Medicaid program, cannot pay more for medications than what the Veterans Administration pays on the federal level.  It is allowing the state to negotiate the same price with Big Pharma that they all have with the VA.   So, let's follow the money on this one to see who is behind the effort to shoot down this proposition - to no surprise, Big Pharma is fronting all the money.  It is in the interest of Big Pharma to defeat this proposition.   Big Pharma has been exposed as the big nasty corporate structure that raises prices on life-saving meds - just because they can.  So, let's continue to follow the money story, and find out why it is that they are pitching the story that Vets will have a hardship because the passage of this proposition will send them into poverty because of a rise in costs.    Simply said, the sate of California will pay no more than the federal VA program.   This is were the rubber meets the road.   If Big Pharma is going to protect the obscene profit margins they currently enjoy, they will want to raise the prices on the VA program - not because they will go bankrupt, but because they can.  It is Big Pharma that will raise the prices, not Proposition 61.   The pharmaceutical industry is drawing the line here in the state of California , because if it passes here, the remaining state will probably follow.   Just look down at all the corporate sponsors who are putting big piles of money up to defeat this issue, and you will see each and every one of the Big Pharma units on it. Let us think about all the people on state programs who are currently unable to afford their medications because of high costs.  Who is advocating for them?   Proposition 61 does this.   I think it is a pretty sleazy scare that Big Pharma has these ads on there on TV that do not tell the full story and masquerade behind the masks of military veterans for the sake of preserving their own profit margins.

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Juan
 

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