The pharmaceutical industry may be losing a heated battle over drug prices in California.
A poll released earlier this week found that two-thirds of Californians support an initiative that would require drug makers to offers discounts to state health programs. And despite differences in age, ethicities, political party affiliation, and regions where they resided, the poll participants had similar responses. The initiative is on the ballot for a vote in November.
At issue is the California Drug Price Relief Act, which would revise state law to require the state Medicaid program, which is known as Medi-Cal, and other state programs to pay no more for medicines than the prices negotiated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Currently, the VA gets a 24 percent discount off average manufacturer prices.
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