We are in favor of the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act because of the positive effects it will have on health care as a whole and the people to whom it provides. Below is a list of the positive potential impacts of this bill, which includes improved length and quality of life. The first step in our political action plan is to support this act by creating this blog and utilizing it as a way of introducing this legislation, providing knowledge, and hopefully inspiring people to get involved. Next, we plan to contact legislatures and identify to them the importance of passing this bill and what it could mean to people in this country who are burdened with medication costs. Previously stated under "Evidence Based Need for Change," there are listed a few evidence-based articles; all of which conclude that better clinical outcomes are resulted when patients were provided adequate medication access at reasonable prices.
Key stakeholders include any health care consumers without insurance, those whose insurance does not cover prescription drug costs, and those who primarily use clinics or free health centers for primary care. Other stakeholders include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, pharmaceutical companies,insurance companies, and both democratic and republican candidates who address this issue in their campaign platforms.
Key legislators include Democractic Rep Joseph Crowley who introduced the bill to the house along with the support of the following:
Legislators in the house include Mr. Ramstad, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Schiff, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota, Mr. McDermott, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Waxman, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Clarke, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mrs. Boyda of Kansas, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Moore of Kansas, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Castor, Mr. Allen, Mr. Carnahan, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Filner, Mr. Berman, Mr. Clay, Mr. Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Blumenauer, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Sires, Ms. Norton, Ms. Berkley, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Degette, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Mitchell, Ms. Delauro, Ms. Sutton, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Hooley, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Honda, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Boucher, Mr. Farr, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Courtney, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Israel, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Ackerman, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Dent, Mr. Olver, Ms. Lee, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Payne, Ms. Giffords, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Wu, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Towns, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. Solis, Ms. Schwartz, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Shays, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Hall of New York, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. Defazio, Mr. Walz of Minnesota, Mr. Jefferson, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Kind, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Miller of North Carolina, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Welch of Vermont, Mr. Kagen, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, and Mr. Stark.
Senate supports include Democrat Barack Obama with support of the following legislators: Mr. Reid (for Mr. Obama (for himself, Mrs. McCaskill, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Harkin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell, and Mrs. Clinton)
Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) is Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee who would be a key player in helping with funding for this bill. David R Obey (D-WI) is the chair of of the House Appropriations Committee and would also be an important point of contact(This committee has an HHS subcommittee). Virginia rep Dave Moran is also on this committee.
Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is another important legislator. The bill has not yet been passed to this committee and its knowledge of this bill is a key piece to enacting this legislation.
6 comments:
I think that an act such as this is essential to the overall health of our country. It's incredible to think that drugs have become so expensive in the United States that a majority of its citizens cannot afford to purchase them. It's scary when you realize how many people contract illnesses that can be so easily treated with an antibiotic but those same people end up getting sicker or even dying because they do not have sufficient funds to purchase the drugs. I feel that it is an abomination that such conditions exist and I'm so glad that you have found a bill that is fighting to eradicate this injustice. I was also glad to see that you were able to find so many supporters of this bill as well. Great job, guys!
I agree with Caroline. I think that this act is essential to benefit everyone, especially the key stakeholders listed. Medications are so expensive that many Americans cannot afford to buy them, so a lot of them just don't bother buying them and many has to choose whether to buy their meds or to buy food. By passing this bill or by contacting the legislators and by raising awareness, it will definitely help many of Americans. It will make people healthier, have lesser hospitalizations because they can avoid unncessary hospitalizations due to unmanaged blood pressure or blood sugar.
Wow, I was very surprised by how many people are involved in this bill! I think that is very important that we start taking action to reduce the cost of drugs in the United States. We are one of (if not the) only country that allows drug companies to advertise, drug prices have skyrocketed. I think this bill is a step in the right direction toward lowering the price of prescription drugs!
I support this bill and think it is important to lower the cost of prescription medications for those that cannot afford to pay for them, especially since this will end up decreasing the total costs of healthcare by avoiding the complications that arise from medication noncompliance. However, I feel like it would be best to decrease the costs of all prescription medications for everyone. The costs for some of these prescription drugs is out of control, and even with insurance a person could end up paying hundreds of dollars for a drug. I understand why those specific groups were targeted, but I think this bill is something that the entire population could be obviously be benefited by.
In response to Soleil, I think she made a very important point that when some individuals cannot afford medication they just stop taking it. I am sure we have seen this in our field and we can take a primary preventative approach by making the medication more affordable so that people do not wind up in the hospital in diabetic shock, hypertensive crisis, or other life threatening conditions because they could not afford their medications. By reducing this cost, we can help people stay healthier and have a better quality of life.
In response to Jenna's query on pharmaceutical advertising, I did some research on other countries. Only the US and New Zealand were listed as developed countries allowing direct-to consumer advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals according to a report by Greg Finlayson and Ross Mullner. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0770220709.html
DCTA was found to cause increase in doctors prescribing those drugs most often advertised, with a 24.6% increase on the top 50 advertised drugs and a 4.3% increase of other drugs from the 1000 drugs that were used for this test. (Results are from 1999 to 2000.)
As companies loose their patents and generic forms of most commonly used drugs are introduce, the idea is that generic pricing will make companies use competitive pricing.
The usual argument against stronger price control of pharmaceuticals is that research and development will suffer.
Thank you for your support, Jenna.
Finlayson, G., & Mullner, R. (2005) Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs: help or hindrance to the public's health? Journal of Consumer Marketing. 22(7), 429-431.
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