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Rx op-ed by AARP NYS President Leo Asen
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR MARCH13-19, 2020 13
BTR letters & comments
Pay your own
college tab
BUS INES S PROFI LE
High prescription drug
costs are a big problem for
New Yorkers, especially our
older residents - and most so
for older New Yorkers of color.
We have a great opportunity
to do something about it
here in New York, and soon.
Governor Andrew Cuomo
has proposed as part of the
state budget due April 1 an Rx
Price Control Board to investigate
unconscionable increases
in prescription drug prices.
This would get at the root of
the Rx affordability problem:
the actual list prices of drugs,
which are set by big PhRMA
itself.
Someone has to stop these
spiraling prices. AARP fully
supports Governor Cuomo in
his effort to do so, and we urge
state lawmakers to support an
Rx Control Board as part of the
final budget.
We’re also urging lawmakers
to include in the final budget
an expansion of the state’s
Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance
Coverage Program
(EPIC) to make affordable
drugs accessible to more older
New Yorkers.
Now more than ever, access
to affordable medications is
paramount.
But it won’t be easy; PhRMA
spares little expense on its lobbying
efforts, yet taxpayers
and everyone who pays into
health insurance bears the
cost of America’s highest-inthe
world drug prices through
premiums, cost-sharing and
higher taxes.
We can begin to attack these
out-of-control prices right here
in New York.
Americans on Medicare
Part D take 4.5 prescriptions
a month on average, and costs
can add up. In fact, the average
annual cost of prescription
drug treatment increased over
five times faster than the average
New Yorker’s annual income
from 2012 to 2017.
And those increased costs
disproportionately hit older
New Yorkers of color.
AARP recently launched
the second phase of our effort
to “Disrupt Racial & Ethnic
Disparities” for New Yorkers
50+, and the new research documents
a problem New Yorkers
know too well.
Over a recent year, 23% of
American voters age 50 and
over did without a prescription,
but it was a staggering
41% among similarly aged
African Americans and 32%
among Hispanic/Latinos.
Drilling down on the diabetes
fighting drug insulin, over
20% of African Americans and
Hispanic/Latinos didn’t fill
their diabetes prescriptions
because of cost, compared to
14% of Whites.
That’s already unacceptable,
but if drug prices continue
rising, it will get even
worse.
That’s why we’re urging
state lawmakers and the Governor
to act.
AARP and dozens of consumer,
patient, and health
organizations, including the
Hispanic Federation, NAACP
of New York, New York Urban
League and Asian American
Federation, sent a letter to Senate
Majority Leader Andrea
Stewart-Cousins and Assembly
Speaker Carl Heastie urging
them to support establishment
of an Rx Control Board
and an expansion of EPIC in
this year’s final state budget.
We’re advocating additional
measures too, including:
-
lation sponsored by Senator
Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblyman
Michael DenDekker
of New York City, whose bill
would require disclosure of
deals in which manufacturers
of brand name prescription
drugs pay generic drug manufacturers
to delay introduction
of less expensive generic alternatives
to the market – by 17
months on average;
-
sulin co-payments for insured
patients, as the Governor has
also proposed, and;
cost prescription drugs from
Canada, as the Governor is exploring.
All of these proposals
would help New Yorkers afford
the medications they depend
on, in some cases to save
their lives. All are linked, and
all must be addressed to solve
the Rx affordability problem
in our state.
AARP members from
around the state have been
traveling to the state Capitol
and to state lawmakers’ district
offices to make sure our
state lawmakers hear our message
loud and clear.
Now is the time; the Governor
and Legislature must work
together to address price, access
to affordable lifesaving
drugs, and Rx transparency.
Leo Asen of New York City
is AARP New York’s Volunteer
State President.
Dear editor,
Re Christina Rasmussen
letter (March6, 2020)... Being
college educated you should
realize that free college education
is not free. It’s paid for by
tax payers. Seeing as though
I paid for mine and my three
kids you should pay for yours.
I paid the tuition by working
two jobs. My children also
worked while going to school.
Why does today’s generation
walk around thinking they’re
owned stuff. Instead of walking
around looking for free
stuff all the time, try earning
it. You’ll feel much better
about yourself when you grow
up.
Cosmo Monteleone
Pay your own
college tab
Dear editor,
“What you need to know
about the coronavirus” (Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney
-- March 5) missed that everyone
has known for decades that
the subway, bus, commuter rail
and ferries are a Petri dish for
catching a cold, the fl u or other
communicable diseases. The
rise of a growing homeless population,
who ride our subways
and live at stations for hours
on end have made matters
worse. They clearly have little
if any ability to maintain personal
hygiene. The announcement
by MTA chairman Pat
Foye in response to the threat
of the corona virus growing
is disappointing. His commitment
to have transit workers
deep clean the entire system
using an “enhanced daily
cleaning procedure,” or scrub
strategy including bleach and
hospital grade disinfectant
should have been the norm for
years. The same is true for
sanitizing “commonly touched
surfaces” at stations including
turnstyles, exit gates, platform
fl oots, bathrooms, Metro Card
vending machines and benches
on a daily basis. It should not be
beneath the duty of former subway
token clerks, who are now
station managers, to perform
some of these duties. Cleaning
NYC subway cars and buses,
along with Long Island Rail
Road, Metro North Rail Road
and Staten Island Railway cars
once every 72 hours is insuffi
cient. Between homeless on
board and rush hour standing
room only crowds, they need to
be thoroughly cleaned on a 24-
hour basis. The odds increase
for spreading a communicable
disease when you are trapped
on a crowded bus or subway for
long periods of time. Millions
of New Yorkers who ride the
subway, bus or commuter rail
should not have to wait once
every three days for a complete
cleaning of vehicles.
What are those responsible
for running the NYC Department
of Transportation State
Island Ferry, NYC Economic
Development Corporation Private
Ferry Operators, Port Authority
of NY & NJ PATH, New
Jersey Transit, Westchester
Bee Line Bus and other suburban
bus operators doing to improve
preventative cleaning as
well? It should not have taken
the potential spread of the corona
virus for the MTA to properly
clean equipment and stations.
Safety and security of the
riding public should always be
the number one priority.
Larry Penner
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