Health Care

Testimony submitted to Joint Committee on Elder Affairs and Joint Committee on Heath Care Financing

 In Support of S.324

An Act to Promote Prescription Pharmaceutical Affordability in the Commonwealth"

March 3, 2010

By Judy Deutsch, LWVMA Specialist on Health Care

The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts has long advocated for quality, affordable health care for all Massachusetts residents. As a part of our commitment, we supported Senator Montigny’s bills for the bulk purchase of pharmaceuticals at negotiated prices and were pleased when two of these bills were passed.

 

However, we were very disappointed when we learned that neither of these bills had been implemented.

 

Consequently, we were quick to endorse and provide testimony in support of Senator Rosenberg’s bill, S. 324, “An Act to Promote Prescription Pharmaceutical Affordability in the Commonwealth,” which will create a commission to iron out the difficulties that Massachusetts governmental agencies have had in developing mechanisms to implement the bulk purchase of prescription drugs at negotiated prices.

 

Because of the increasing burden escalating medication prices are placing on all our taxpayers, as well as on individual residents and non-state health care providers, The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts strongly urges you to support the establishment of this commission, which we can hope will expedite the implementation of a long-delayed process that can significantly decrease the cost of medications purchased by numerous state agencies, individuals and other health care providers.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

 

 

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The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
133 Portland Street, Boston, MA 02114
Telephone: 617 523-2999 Fax: 617 248-0881
Email: lwvma@lwvma.org