Drug price control advocates say they have almost 550,000 register voter signatures and will present them to California state election officials by Monday, November 2nd in order to qualify The California Drug Price Relief Act referendum for the November 2016 presidential election ballot in California. They need only 365,880 signatures.
Their goal is to revise California law to require state programs to pay the same drug prices as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The V.A. generally pays 20% to 24% less than any government program, the proponents claim, and since this will be outside California government, politicians would be unable to modify it, much like Proposition 65 is implemented with no recourse by voters or representatives - and why the state will be forced to claim sausage is as harmful for you as cigarettes and asbestos.
The potential downside: If drug companies balk, the state government would still be blamed for denying patients needed medication.
Advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Ohioans for Fair Drug Prices have also been collecting voter signatures in Ohio for a similar drug pricing ballot measure since mid-August. Both measures are expected to qualify for the November 2016 presidential election ballots in their respective states.
