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New Report Details High Cost Of Prescription Drugs
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AFFORDABLE MEDICINE — CALPIRG advocate Emily Clayton discusses the findings of “Paying the Price,” a new CALPIRG report on the high cost of prescription drugs for California’s uninsured. The report’s findings are being used to push legislators in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to take action on the high cost of medicine. |
This summer, CALPIRG staff released a new survey on the high cost of medicine for uninsured Californians. Working together with state PIRG researchers from across the country, the survey looked at prices for ten drugs in more than 600 pharmacies.
The results confirmed what too many Californians already know—the uninsured pay far more for their medicine than preferred buyers like the federal government and roughly twice as much as they would pay for the same medicines in Canadian pharmacies.
Three California cities ranked as some of the most expensive cities for the uninsured in the country – Sacramento finished second, San Francisco third and Los Angeles sixth. Boston had the highest prices in the 35-city survey.
CALPIRG advocates are using the findings of the report to push Congress and the state legislature to pass legislation that will lower the cost of medicine for both the uninsured and the insured.
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Supreme Court Strikes Campaign Finance Law
Vermont’s ambitious campaign finance law mandated spending limits and set contribution limits at levels average Americans could afford. The law challenged a 30-year Supreme Court precedent (Buckley v. Valeo) and was immediately contested in court. VPIRG, the PIRG in Vermont, intervened in the case to support the law, only to see Justices strike it down in late June. “Instead of allowing Vermont to level the playing field, the Justices have preserved a clear path to power for wealthy donors,” said Steve Blackledge.
In the ruling, the Justices provided direction on how lower limits, like those in the Vermont law, can be upheld in the future. For instance, the court disapproved of the fact that the Vermont limits were static and not tied to cost of living increases. Prop. 89, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, which is on the ballot in California, also lowers contribution limits, but unlike Vermont, it pegs those limits to cost of living increases.
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Corporate Tax Reporting Act Passes Legislature
In August, CALPIRG helped pass the Honest Tax Reporting Act, AB 675 (Klehs) out of the state legislature.
Corporations often report profits to their shareholders that are on average 20 percent higher than the profits they report to the state tax board. This bill requires corporations to disclose and explain any differences between profits reported to shareholders and profits reported to the state tax board.
“When corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, the rest of us have to pick up the tab for funding schools, public safety and other needs,” said Emily Rusch, Advocate with CALPIRG. “The Honest Corporate Tax Reporting Act will discourage companies from hiding profits from the state tax board.”
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Student Debt Shaping Career Decisions
A college education is the key to being able to do what you want in life, or at least that’s what parents have been telling their children for years. According to a new CALPIRG report, hitting the books is only half the battle—student debt is increasingly determining the career choice of young Americans as the cost of a college education skyrockets.
The report, “Paying Back, Not Giving Back: Student Debt’s Negative Impact on Public Service Career Opportunities,” shows that more than 23 percent of 4-year public and 38 percent of private college graduates have too much debt to take jobs as public school teachers.
“Public servants like teachers and social workers are vital to the success of our communities,” said Higher Education Associate Luke Swarthout. “Unfortunately, high student loan debt can prevent new graduates from entering or staying in these critical, yet low-paying careers.”
The report followed the largest cut to student aid program in history. In February, Congress passed a $12 billion cut to federal student aid programs.
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