PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Action Center
    • Take Action
    • Contact Your Government Officials
    • Reliable Sources of News
  • Events
    • Upcoming PACG Events
    • PACG Calendar
    • Community Events
  • Groups
    • PACG Book Club
    • What is an Issue Forum?
    • Civil Rights Forum
    • Environmental Forum
    • Gender Equity Forum
    • Health Care Reform Forum
  • Donate
    • Donate to PACG
    • Endowment >
      • Donate to the Dick Fallow Fund for Social Justice
      • Honoring Dick Fallow
      • Grant Application
  • Contact
    • About
    • Join Us
    • Sign Up for the Progressive Action Update
    • Make a Submission to the Progressive Action Update

What You Can Do Now - Drug Price Control Action Alert

7/29/2019

0 Comments

 

Drug Price Control - Action Alert
Quad Cities Area

Health Care Reform

Action Alert - Drug Price Control


The Senate Finance committee chaired by Sen. Grassley, approved by a vote of 19-9, a bi-partisan bill to limit prescription drug prices to the inflation index, but drug company lobbyists are mounting forces to oppose the bill. Many Republican senators seem ready to oppose it or amend it to death during floor debate.


Now is the time for us to act. If you live in Iowa, call Sen. Grassley 515-288-1145 and thank him for his leadership on this bill, and urge him to keep fighting for its passage without crippling amendments. Then contact Sen. Joni Ernst 515-284-4574 and urge her to ignore industry lobbyists and support passage of this bi-partisan bill that will help protect all Americans from huge prescription drug price increases.


If you live in Illinois, you can also thank Sen. Grassley for his leadership on this issue and contact Sen. Durbin 202-224-2152 and Sen. Duckworth 202-224-2854 and thank them for their continuing support on this and other health care reform issues.


Frank Samuelson
0 Comments

Candidate Questions - Health Care Reform

4/22/2019

0 Comments

 

Candidate Questions -  Health Care Reform 

Let’s get organized before the next presidential candidates come to town! It’s hard to know what questions to ask, but here is a list that we have created. If you have additional questions you think should be asked, please contact our Office Manager, Amber Bordolo and we will add to this list.
 
If you attend a candidate’s event, print off this list (see the download link below) and have it handy in case you have an opportunity to ask questions. Listen carefully to the answers on the topics below. Take notes if you can, and report back to us in the Blog Comments below.
 
These are also good questions that should be addressed to your State legislatures when they hold legislative sessions or campaign for re-election.
​

1.  How will you protect the progress made thanks to the Affordable Care Act? (more people insured, children insured on parent’s programs until age 26, protection for pre-existing conditions, etc)
 
2. The Medicare program is vital to the health of millions of people. Will you protect Medicare for cuts planned by some members of Congress?
 
3.  There are efforts underway to cut Medicaid funding and turn it into individual state grants. How will you fight to keep Medicaid strong and protect it from future cuts?
 
4.  If you favor health care expansion, could you describe your vision? What would be the key points? (Single payer? Incremental stages of expansion?)
 
5.  How will you provide healthcare to low-income people in states that did not expand Medicaid?
 
6.  How will you push pharmaceutical companies to reduce Hight prescription drug prices?
 
      a. Do you support letting Medicare negotiate with prescription drug companies? If so,                             why? 
           
     b. Would you support a bill to allow lower priced generic drugs to access the market more                     quickly?
 
     c. What efforts will you take to require drug companies to explain large price increases? 
 
     d. Would you require drug companies to give a two-month notice when they plan to                              significantly increase prices? 
 
     e. Should Americans be allowed to buy lower priced drugs from other countries or should the              U.S. government regulate drug prices?

​
questions_for_candidates_-_health_care_reform.docx
File Size: 13 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

0 Comments

What You Can Do Now - Call Congress to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

3/25/2018

0 Comments

 

What You Can Do Now - Call Your Members of Congress to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

The escalating costs of prescription drugs are a major driver in the increasing cost of health care, including insurance premiums.  The pharmaceutical industry has developed effective methods for blocking or delaying the introduction of lower cost generic alternative medications which contribute to this problem.
 
The good news is that bills have been introduced in this congress to help alleviate the problem and encourage the timely approval and production of generic drugs. This “CREATES Act” has
​bi-partisan support in both houses.  Senate Bill 974 is co-sponsored by Senators Grassley, Durbin, Leahy and 17 others.  HR 2212 has 15 co-sponsors so far.
 
Now is the time to contact Senators Grassley and Durbin and thank them for their support of this legislation and encourage them to work for its passage.  It is also crucial to contact Senators Ernst and Duckworth and ask them to co-sponsor and support the Senate bill -- and to ask Representatives Bustos and Loebsack to co-sponsor and support the House bill.
 
Senators Grassley and Leahy have published an excellent description of the issue and the major provisions of the CREATES Act.  You can read about the CREATES Act here.
 
Don’t delay. Contact your Senators and Representative today!
0 Comments

Grassley, Leahy: It's time to empower generic drug makers to bring down prices

3/23/2018

0 Comments

 

Grassley, Leahy: It’s time to empower generic drug makers to bring down prices

U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Patrick Leahy in STAT News

In Vermont, Iowa, and every other state across the country, people are fed up with the high cost of prescription drugs. Prices continue to skyrocket as companies making brand-name drugs restrict competition by refusing to share samples of their drugs with companies aiming to make generic versions or refusing to negotiate a shared safety protocol. This is an abuse of government regulations that are intended to protect patients and ensure drug safety.
 
These practices punish patients and worsen illnesses. Families, businesses, government programs, and other payers in the health care system must bear the added, unnecessary costs that accrue when a generic is shut out.
 
Lawmakers across the political spectrum, including President Trump, agree that Congress needs to act to rein in spiraling prescription drug prices. We can start by cracking down on abuses by companies making brand-name drugs that engage in tactics to artificially delay the development of generic alternatives. These stifle competition and keep prices artificially high. It is no wonder that hardworking Americans feel like the system is rigged against them by corporations that are seizing any opportunity unfairly restrict competition and reap monopoly profits long after patents expire.
 
Some — not all — companies that make brand-name drugs limit release of their products to prevent access to samples as a way to delay the development of generic versions. These tactics block more-affordable FDA-approved generics that save patients — and taxpayers — money at the pharmacy counter. When a generic manufacturer is not able to buy drug samples, it is impossible to do the careful testing that’s needed to ask the Food and Drug Administration to approve the medication. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has rightly called these tactics “unfair and exploitative” and “in direct conflict to our broader public health goals.”
 
Cancer patient David Mitchell testified before Congress about one company’s efforts to deny a generic company’s access to samples of Revlimid, a lifesaving cancer treatment. Access to samples of the drug has been at issue since 2009. If it were not for this ongoing abuse of the FDA’s safety programs, a generic alternative could be available to David and other patients as early as next year.
 
Because there is no generic alternative, the cost of Revlimid has remained artificially high and has actually risen fourteen times since this abuse began, from $9,853 in 2010 to its current price of $18,546 for a 28-count bottle. This is just one example out of more than 150 complaints that the FDA has received from generic manufacturers.
 
To end these anti-competitive tactics, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers — including Republican Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.), and Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), and Dick Durbin (Ill.), have joined us to introduce the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act. This bill is supported by a broad and politically diverse coalition of 68 organizations representing hospitals, physicians, patients, employers, and unions. AARP, Families USA, Freedom Works, and Heritage, to name just a few, have endorsed this common-sense legislation. The public also agrees: Recent polls show that 84 percent of Americans support the CREATES Act.
 
Our bipartisan bill targets anti-competitive behavior that keeps prices artificially high, such as when companies withhold drug samples from generic manufacturers or refuse to negotiate a shared safety protocol. Both steps undermine the FDA approval process and block potential generic competitors from creating less-expensive alternatives.
 
Companies making brand-name drugs that stand in the way of the CREATES Act wrongly claim the legislation will lead to frivolous lawsuits. This is a red herring. Our bill is narrowly tailored and would only allow eligible product developers seeking to develop a medicine to sue, only after receiving FDA authorization. Trial lawyers will have no standing to sue under our plan.
 
Another baseless argument we have heard is that counterfeit product developers who do not intend to develop a drug will take advantage of the CREATES Act in order to seeks damages from a brand-name company. Wrong again. Under the CREATES Act, court challenges are only allowed based on continued delays after the FDA has certified the safety and the brand has refused to release samples. The significant costs to submit protocols to the FDA also discourages this behavior. These arguments do not hold up against the clear and limited remedies available under the CREATES Act.
 
Conservatives who support the CREATES Act appreciate that it lowers drug costs by quickly bringing parties to the negotiation table under the threat of litigation instead of a drawn-out regulatory action. The act is not a drastic measure, but allows the generic development process to proceed as intended by Congress under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Companies making brand-name pharmaceuticals need only to negotiate in good faith and provide the samples for testing on market terms to avoid a lawsuit.
 
This bill offers Congress an opportunity to take meaningful action to lower the cost of prescription drugs. It would save $3.8 billion in federal spending over the next 10 years and many billions more in costs to consumers.
 
The CREATES Act is a sensible, efficient, market-based way for generic drug manufacturers to address the delays in developing generics without jeopardizing patient safety or creating lengthy battles in the courts. There is no question that pharmaceutical companies should be compensated for their important work developing lifesaving treatments. But they should not be allowed to use predatory practices to cling to their patents and delay the development of generics at the expense of their customers.
 
Congress has a straightforward and fully bipartisan chance to actually do something to wind down the upward spiral of drug prices. Enough talk. It’s time for real action.

 
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley represents the state of Iowa. Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy represents the state of Vermont.
​
0 Comments

Repair and Strengthen the ACA, Not Replace It!

6/16/2017

0 Comments

 

Health Care  Reform Forum

As the Congressional effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act moves to the Senate, we progressives need to tell our senators to dump the draconian House bill which will cause 24 million Americans to lose their health insurance, reduce Medicaid for the most vulnerable, and give tax benefits to the wealthy and corporations (among other things).  Tell your senators now to repair and strengthen the ACA, not replace it.  

When the House and Senate bills move to the conference committee, we will evaluate that result and again have the opportunity to contact our representatives and senators with our opinions.

In the meantime, our Health Care Reform Forum is beginning an effort to raise awareness and understanding about a major factor in the ever-rising cost of health care: the rapidly escalating prices of prescription drugs.  We have begun to submit a series of letters to the editors of the Quad City Times and the Dispatch/Argus, and we plan to include them in this newsletter.  We hope they will help you to better understand this multi-faceted issue and to share this information with others.  We need to tell our legislators that the pharmaceutical industry has shown that it cannot resist putting profits over people; therefore Congress must act in the public interest.  Here is the first letter in this series.

PRESCRIPTON DRUG PRICING

One factor in the rising cost of health care, and therefore of health insurance premiums and copays, is the rapid escalation of prescription drug prices.  Some medications have seen price increases of several hundred per cent over a few months or years.  Many new drugs are priced much higher than the costs of development, testing, and bringing them to market. Protected by patents, and promoted by advertising, drug companies charge whatever the market will bear. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable in our economy.

But these escalating prices are paid for by the patients who need these treatments and by the insurance companies and government agencies that pay the bills.  President Trump raised this issue in a meeting with pharmaceutical CEOs.  Other politicians, Congressional committees and health care experts have also raised the alarm. Since drug companies can’t resist using all the “tricks of the trade” to raise prices and profits, only our government can bring some rationality and fairness into the system.  But so far it’s all talk and no action.

One simple first step toward addressing this problem would be for Congress to change the law that forbids Medicare from negotiating prices with the drug companies. Private insurance companies, the Veterans’ Administration, and most governments around the world negotiate drug prices.  Medicare should also.  Tell your representatives and senators to act now to let fairness, competition, and market forces, rather than monopolistic practices, set the prices of our prescription drugs.

Frank Samuelson
cfsam22@gmail.com
0 Comments

Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Prices

6/16/2017

0 Comments

 

Heath Care Reform Forum

Our government has a long history of regulating prescription drugs for safety and effectiveness.  We need to tell our representatives that it's time to address drug pricing.  Here's why:

Wonder why health care costs in the USA are almost twice as much as they are in other developed countries? Follow the money from the pockets of the paying patients to the coffers of Big Pharma. One major reason for the higher cost of health care and insurance premiums is skyrocketing prescription drug prices.

Among the most profitable industries in the U.S. economy, pharmaceutical companies benefit from legal protections and from monopolistic and marketing practices that enable them to set prices without relation to the costs of production or a competitive marketplace.

Recently one company bought the rights to the drug Daraprim and overnight hiked the price 5000%, from $13.50 to $750.  Another bought the right to sell the life-saving drug, Epinephrine, in a two pack dispenser and raised the price 650% from $94 to $608. These two examples reflect an industry wide trend that has caused loud complaints from the public and congressional committees.

In 1940, Congress created the Food and Drug Administration in response to a lethal mistake by a drug company that caused 100 people to die. The FDA now protects the public by assuring that all drugs are proven “safe and effective” before they can be marketed.

Prohibitively high prices of life-saving medications are deadly to the public. Let's tell our congressmen/women and senators to protect us by regulating the costs of pharmaceuticals so they will be available and affordable for all of us.

Clara Caldwell
Rock Island
0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    August 2012
    May 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008

    Categories

    All
    2020 Platform Resolutions
    3 Actions 3 Days
    3 Actions - 3 Days
    3 Months
    3 Weeks
    Abortion
    Abortion Is Health Care
    Absentee Voting
    ACA
    ACA Enrollment
    ACLU
    Action Alert
    Adolescence
    Affordable Care Act
    African American History
    African History
    After Action Report
    A Message From The Board
    A Message From The President
    A Message From The Webmaster
    A Message To Our Membership
    Annual Picnic And Pie Auction
    Asylum
    Auto Theft Accountability Program
    Black History
    Black History Month
    Black Lives Matter
    Board
    Book Club
    Books
    Candidate Questions
    Car Theft Accountability
    Caucus Training
    CDC
    Celebrating Earth Month
    Choice
    Citizens Advisory Panels
    Civil Disobedience
    Civil Rights
    Civil Rights Forum
    Civl Right
    Clergy For A New Drug Policy
    Climate Change
    Climate Crisis Voter
    Community Events
    Connection With Others
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    COVID Relief
    Crisis At The Border
    DACA
    DAPL
    Davenport Bearing Witness
    Dick Fallow Endowment
    Donations
    Dreamers
    Dr. Kathleen Belew
    Drug Courts
    Drug Policy Forum
    Drug Policy Reform
    Drug Policy Reform Forum
    Duckworth
    Durbin
    Early Voting
    Earth Day
    Earth Month
    Earth Month Proclamation
    Earth Week
    Education
    Elections
    Environ
    Environment
    Environmental Forum
    Environmental Voter
    EPA
    Ernst
    Family Separation
    FARMERS MARKET
    Fundraising
    Gender
    Gender Equity
    Gender Equity Forum
    Global Climate Strike
    Government Shutdown
    Grants
    Grassley
    Green Drinks
    Green Holiday
    Green New Deal
    Gun Regulations
    Gun Violence
    Harm Reduction
    Health Care
    Health Care Reform Forum
    Hear Our Voice
    Holiday Party
    Honk For Action
    I Am The Future
    Illinois Local Government
    Illinois State Government
    Illiteracy
    Immigrants And Trafficking
    Immigration
    Immigration And Refugee Summit
    Impeachment Inquiry
    Inauguration 2021 Party
    Informed Voter
    Instagram
    Iowa Caucus
    Iowa Local Government
    Iowa State Government
    Iowa Women United
    Jobs
    Juvenile Justice
    Juvenile Justice Coalition
    Kavanaugh
    Kriss Wells
    Labor
    Leahy
    Legislative Forum
    Legislative Session
    LGBTQ+
    Lights For Liberty
    Living Lands And Waters
    Lobbying
    Local Culture
    LULAC
    Lunch & Learn
    Make Meds Affordable
    Marijuana Legalization
    Martin Luther King
    Mass Incarceration
    MCCQC
    Medical Cannabis
    Medicare
    Medicinal Canabis
    Membership Drive
    Members Of Congress
    Message From The Board
    Message From The President
    Message To Our Membership
    MLK Interpretive Center
    Monthly Environmental Celebration
    MoveOn
    Music
    NAACP
    Nahant Marsh
    National Organization For Women
    Native American
    Net Metering
    Networking
    Nobody Is Above The Law
    No Hate In Our States
    Nonbinary
    Nonviolent Resistance
    Novel Coronavirus
    No Wall
    Of Interest To Our Community
    Of Interest To PACG Forum Members
    One Human Family
    Op Ed
    Operation Reach Out
    Opioid Epidemic
    OSHA
    Our Office Manager
    Out & About
    PACG Action
    PACG Event
    PACG Events
    PACG History
    PACG In The News
    PACG Parties
    PACG's 15th Anniversary
    Pandemic
    Paris To Pittsburgh
    Paris To Pittsburgh Movie
    Partners Of Scott County Watersheds
    Peace Circle
    Peace Forum
    Peace & Justice
    Peace Vigil
    Picnic
    Pictures
    Power Of 3
    PPE
    Prescription Drug Pricing
    Pre-WEU Events
    Pride Fest
    Progressive Action Update (PAU)
    Putnam Museum
    Quad Cities Interfaith
    Race And Trauma
    Race And Trauma (ART)
    Race: Are We So Different?
    Racial Equality Now
    Racial Justice
    Rallies
    Rapid Response Rallies
    Recycle
    Refugee Policy
    Refugees
    Renewable Energy
    Reproductive Rights
    Repurpose
    Resist
    Resistance School
    Resources
    Restorative Justice
    Restrictions To Voting
    Reuse
    Sanctuary
    Satellite Voting
    Save The Date
    Scott County Legislative Session
    Segregation
    Sentencing Reform
    Sexual Assault
    Social Justice
    Social Security
    Solar Power
    Special Counsel Investigation
    Spread The Relief Campaign
    Staff
    Standing With The Kurds
    Staying Informed
    Streaming Meetings
    Students
    Supreme Court
    Sustainable Farming
    Taking Action
    Taking Action 101
    The Many Faces Of Hate
    Toast The Resistance
    Transgender Rights
    Understand The Need
    Unitarian Church (UUCQC)
    Updated Post
    USPS Delivery Issues
    Volunteer Now
    Vote By Mail
    Vote-by-Mail
    Voter ID Laws
    Voter Registration
    Voter Suppression
    Voting
    Voting Rights
    Voting Rights Restoration
    War On Drugs
    Water Quality
    Water Sampling
    Webinar
    Weekly Email Update
    WEU Submissions
    What Is The White Power Movement?
    What You Can Do Now
    Wind Power
    Women's Equity
    Women's Equity Forum
    Women's History
    Women's Issues
    Workers' Rights
    Working Together Fund Drive
    Y15K
    Y15K Initiative
    Year End Summary
    Year-End Summary
    Youth
    Zoom
    Zoom Help
    Zoom Security

    RSS Feed

 Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG)
 1212 W. 3rd St, Suite 3D, Davenport IA  52802    
 (563) 676-7580      
​ qcprogressiveaction@gmail.com                                                                                                                                      © 2023 Progressive Action for the Common Good