Schwarzenegger’s California Rx Plan Will Provide ‘Deep Discounts,’ Belshe States
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Rx plan is the "only option that will immediately bring meaningful prescription drug discounts to millions of uninsured Californians," Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Kim Belshe writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece.
Belshe writes that although many government officials "pay lip service to grand ideas about importing drugs from foreign countries," Schwarzenegger's "concrete plan" would generate "deep discounts" for the uninsured, provide "immediate access to prescription drugs" and ensure that federal safety standards are maintained.
The strategy of threatening to discontinue coverage of certain drugs from state programs unless pharmaceutical companies offer discounts has been "a flop in other states and would not work for California," according to Belshe. Moreover, "it is irresponsible to risk the health and well-being of our most vulnerable in order to leverage low prices for higher income individuals," Belshe writes (Belshe, Sacramento Bee, 2/14).