What you need to know about Prop. 61, the spendy prescription drug measure on November's ballot
“It is unacceptable that Americans live in fear that they will go bankrupt because of the outrageously high cost of their prescription drugs. By voting yes on Proposition 61 the people of California have a chance to do what Congress has failed to do– stand up to the pharmaceutical industry.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Yes on Prop 61/Californians for Lower Drug Prices have launched a statewide billboard campaign that features many respected organizations saying “Yes on Proposition 61.”
Nearly 400 billboards across the length and breadth of California, from San Diego to Redding, will point out to voters that AARP California, the California Nurses Association, the Urban League, VoteVets, Sen. Bernie Sanders and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation all say “Yes on 61 for Lower Drug Prices.”
The Yes on 61 campaign also launched its first statewide television ad, a spot with a medical doctor and infectious-disease expert talking about the outrageous prices of prescription drugs, and how they threaten people's lives. The full ad can be viewed here and at www.YesOn61.com.
Proposition 61, on the November 8 ballot, would require the state of California to negotiate with drug companies for drug prices that are no more than is paid for the same drugs by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). Unlike Medicare, the DVA negotiates for drug prices on behalf of the millions veterans it serves, and pays on average 20-24 percent less for medications than other government agencies, and up to 40 percent less than Medicare Part D. Prop. 61 empowers the state, as the healthcare buyer for millions of Californians, to negotiate the same or an even better deal for taxpayers, saving the state billions.
Prop. 61 has been endorsed by AARP California, the California Nurses Association, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and his new organization Our Revolution, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, civil rights and labor activist Dolores Huerta, the Rev. Al Sharpton, the Urban League, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the Campaign for a Healthy California, Progressive Democrats of America, Social Security Works and the VoteVets Action Fund. In addition, Prop. 61 is supported by county Democratic parties in Alameda, Contra Costa, Madera, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Ventura and Yolo counties, numerous California Democratic Party (CDP) officials, including former longtime California Democratic Party Chair Art Torres, CDP Secretary Daraka Larimore-Hall and CDP Controller Hilary Crosby. A full list of endorsements can be found at http://www.Yeson61.com/endorsements/
Contacts
for Californians for Lower Drug Prices Roger Salazar, 916-284-1255