Proposition 79 was rejected by voters in the November 2005 election.
PROP. 79
Prescription Drug Discounts. State-Negotiated Rebates
Should the state of California create a new prescription drug discount program for residents at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and change state law to make it illegal to engage in profiteering from the sale of prescription drugs?
Provides drug discounts to Californians with qualifying incomes. Funded by state-negotiated drug manufacturer rebates. Prohibits Medi-Cal contracts with manufacturers not providing Medicaid best price.
This measure would use the state’s lucrative Medi-Cal program as a carrot to get drug companies to offer discounts on prescription meds. But it would also use a new and very big stick: penalizing pharmaceutical firms for “profiteering.”
- Background, key web sites, public opinion polls, select news and reports by the IGS Library at UC Berkeley
- AdWatch, HealthVote.org, provides analysis of television ads, requires RealPlayer
- In Depth Non-Partisan Analysis, League of Women Voters Ca.
- Pros & Cons Analysis, League of Women Voters Ca.
- Notable backers and detractors as well as major campaign contributors, California Voter Foundation
- Official Legislative Analysis, California Legislative Analyst’s Office (PDF)
- “What’s a Fair Price for a Drug?,” HealthVote.org (PDF)
- Background: Similarities & Differences between the Two Competing Prescription Drug Discount Initiatives, Propositions 78 & 79, HealthVote.org, explains “While Prop 78 (the pharmaceutical industry program) would rely on the voluntary cooperation of drug manufacturers in negotiating volume discounts, Prop 79 (the consumer and labor group plan) would punish manufacturers failing to offer sufficient rebates, and create a new civil violation for drug company ‘profiteering.’”
- Web Salon: The Cost of Medicine, California Connected, a lengthy, at times contentious debate on the pharmaceutical industry and fair pricing.
