JUNE 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 41
By Beth Finkel
AARP Stop RX Greed
Before New York State’s
legislative session ends later
this month, Albany can still
make a real dent in a serious
pocketbook issue for New
Yorkers: the high cost of prescription
drugs.
Americans pay the highest
brand-name drug prices
in the world and saw the
price of prescription drugs
skyrocket four times faster
than inflation from 2006 to
2017.
That has to change.
Three bills before the
state legislature would help
New Yorkers get the medications
they need without
breaking the bank by:
· Allowing the safe importation
of prescription
drugs at a far lower price
than New Yorkers must now
pay (S5682/A7588).
· Forcing pharmaceutical
companies to reveal “pay
to delay” deals in which they
pay to keep lower-priced generic
drugs from reaching
the market sooner (S5169/
A7196).
· Empowering the state
attorney general to prosecute
drug-makers for price
gouging (S141/A6606).
A related bill would prohibit
health plans from increasing
patients’ costs for
a specific drug during the
enrollment year (S2849/
A2969).
On May 14, about 150
AARP volunteers from Long
Island to Buffalo went to the
state Capitol for the launch
of AARP’s #StopRxGreed
campaign in New York and
urged their legislators to
pass those bills this year.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul
voiced the support of Governor
Andrew Cuomo’s administration
to “do everything
we can to reel in the exorbitant,
unconscionable prices
of prescription drugs.”
“It is so much easier to
go over to Canada and get
the same drug so much
cheaper,” Hochul - who lives
near the Canadian border
in the Buffalo area - told the
volunteers. “What the heck
is going on in our country?”
Fair question.
The Canadian government
estimates U.S. consumers
pay twice as much
as Canadians for patented
prescription drugs and 20
percent more for generics –
and in some cases 10 times
as much for a drug. Some
eye-popping examples of
price increases: the anaphylactic
shock drug epinephrine
shot up from $94 for a
two-pack of auto-injectors
in 2007 to more than $600
today, while the cost of the
anti-parasitic drug Daraprim
skyrocketed from
$13.50 per tablet after an acquisition
in August 2015 to
$750 a tablet, according to
state bill sponsors.
Nationally, nearly 40%
of voters 50 and over say
they may have to cut back
on other necessities such
as food, fuel, and electricity
in order to afford prescription
drugs, according
to an AARP study – which
found 39% did not fill a prescription
– including 48%
of Hispanics and 46% of African
Americans; 63% percent
said prescription drug
costs are unreasonable.
There is much to do to
ensure the state takes a
stand against rising prescription
drug prices this
year. You can help by calling
your state legislator
at 1-844-254-6882 or going
to action.aarp.org/StopRxGreedNY.
With older residents taking
an average of 4.5 medications
a month and our
population aging, the need
to cut high drug prices will
only increase. There is no
time to waste.
Beth Finkel is AARP
New York State Director.
AARP Long Island volunteers urge Senator Anna Kaplan of Great Neck
to support AARP’s #StopRxGreed New York State campaign during the
association’s statewide day of advocacy in Albany on May 14.
TAKE ON EVERYTHING
LONG ISLAND
HAS TO OFFER TODAY
Today is yours for the taking. And AARP is here in our
community, helping you make the most of it. Whether
you’re a family caregiver looking for some support or
have ideas to help improve your neighborhood, we’re
here to connect you to the tools you need.
So go make today and every day the best it can be,
Long Island. /aarplongisland @aarplongisland
Learn how at aarp.org/longisland
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