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Editor's Note: Making much ado, the pharmaceutical companies told the WV legislature they had a better plan than reducing drug costs. Dozens of company lobbyists sprinkled their wisdom on the legislature during the last session. Here is the real deal, from today's Charleston Gazette:
COMMENT: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Read Charleston Gazette Online
www.wvgazette.com
During its last session, West Virginia's legislature got a lot of attention from the drug industry's lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA. That's because it was about to pass a measure that would result in controls on drug prices for West Virginians. PhRMA tried to convince lawmakers they didn't need such a measure because drug companies had their own plan.
Fortunately for West Virginians, the Legislature went ahead with its original measure. But it also allowed PhRMA to set up its own, called RX for West Virginia, a Web site to give information on drug discounts. As Gazette reporter Kate Long pointed out Sunday, PhRMA announced that, after two weeks, the site had "matched nearly 6,000 West Virginians to free or significantly discounted drugs."
There's only one problem, as Long reported. The Web site told just about everyone that they "may be eligible" for discounts, even if they clearly were not. They then counted this communication as a match.
The site first went up April 19. As of May 4, it was saying that a person with a gross income of $500 million "may be eligible" for a discount drug program with a cutoff of $16,000 a year. After that absurdity was reported, the site discontinued that advice for people with high incomes. However, the site continues to tell all who inquire, no matter what their income level, that they "may be eligible" for help from the Department of Health and Human Resources.
The public relations person for the site said that each time someone was given the advice that they "may be eligible," it was counted as a match. Also, if a person went through the process multiple times, each time was counted as a match. If a person was directed to the wrong agency (for instance, senior citizens being sent to the Children's Health Insurance Program), that was also counted as a match.
This is not a good start for a program that supposedly makes it unnecessary for West Virginians to come up with their own plan for keeping drug prices down. It's coupled with recent news that the drug companies' biggest fear is being realized: Other states are looking at West Virginia's plan, and thinking about doing something similar in their own states.
This is why PhRMA has put so much emphasis on trying to come up with a way to stop the Legislature's plan â and it's also, no doubt, the reason why the lobby group is trying so hard to make their Web site appear successful in helping people get discounted drugs.
If drug companies want to convince West Virginians that they don't need a plan to control prices, they will need to do a lot better than this.
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