Initiative

Drug Companies Fight Cost Controls, But CEOs Top Pay List

The battle for California drug prices is in full swing. An initiative on the November ballot, the California Drug Price Relief Act, would require state agencies to pay the same price as the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) for prescription drugs. The initiative would be a blessing to Californians struggling with out of control drug prices.

Planned Parenthood’s Prop 46 Payback

Prop 46 on the November 2014 ballot would have updated California’s $250,000 cap on compensation for victims of medical negligence, enacted in 1975, for 40 years of inflation. The insurance industry spent $58 million to kill it.

Why was Planned Parenthood with them?

New campaign disclosures reveal how Planned Parenthood benefited from the deal.

Big Pharma Fattening Coffers to Stop Drug Price Reduction Initiative

Big Pharma fears only one thing: a government regulator who will push back on drug prices and protect consumers. Its fears could be realized in a year if an initiative intended to lower drug prices is approved by voters, which is why the drug companies have already filled a campaign war chest with nearly $40 million.
 

Reducing Drug Prices Proposal Could Pit Well-Funded Healthcare Players Against Each Other

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation's proposed measure to reduce prescription drug prices in California is simple enough: Require the state to negotiate prices just like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs does. Proponents say it will lower costs for state programs, potentially save taxpayers millions and ease rising medical costs for the most vulnerable. 
 

California's $2000 initiative poll tax?

Even as the Secretary of State and legislative leaders are championing legislation to make it easier for Californians to register and turn out to vote (for them), lawmakers don't seem to want Californians to be able to vote on ideas of their own.

A bill to increase the ballot initiative filing fee tenfold could pass the State Senate next week.

Multiplying the filing fee from the current $200 to $2000 would make proposing a ballot initiative in California more expensive than any other state.

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