California Assembly Health Committee to Hear SB 852, Bill Addressing Prescription Drug Costs

CONTACT:
Yvonne Vasquez, Communications Associate at Health Access California,  yvasquez@health-access.org 916-407-7078 (cell)
Anthony Wright, Executive Director at Health Access California awright@health-access.org 916-870-4782 (cell)
 
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE TO HEAR SB 852, BILL ADDRESSING PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS  
  • SB 852 (Pan) which is being heard in Assembly Health Committee today, would allow the state to contract for the manufacturing of generic medications, to help lower the cost of drugs and increase access to specific generic prescription drugs.
 
SACRAMENTO- Today, the California Assembly Health Committee will have a committee hearing  at 10:30 am to hear SB 852 (Pan) which will allow the state to potentially contract to manufacture generic drugs, lowering costs and increasing access for consumers.
By creating a generic drug label for the state, SB 852 (Pan) will ensure that  Californians have access to more affordable generic medications. We should use every tool available, including the contracting power of the state of California, to expand access to life-saving generic prescription drugs. Now more than ever, Californians are making hard choices when faced with the rising cost of prescription drugs, even skipping doses all together and we need this bill and other remedies from our policymakers,” said Yasmin Peled, Policy and Legislative Advocate at Health Access California. “In this COVID-19 crisis, this bill can help to improve overall public health by helping Californians have more affordable access to medications.”
 
At the beginning of this year, Governor Newsom announced a number of executive actions to improve the purchasing power of California to bring down drug prices. Consumers would directly benefit from California’s own ability to manufacture needed generic medications like insulin, a drug that has tripled in price over the last decade. By focusing on public health rather than profit, California can provide useful competition in the generic drug market and ensure that the state is not getting fleeced when purchasing prescriptions for the millions of Californians in Medi-Cal and other public programs.
 
 
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