Posts Tagged: pricing
Opinion
OPINION: When the COVID-19 pandemic again reinforced that California’s communities of color disproportionately bear the burden of public health threats, some California lawmakers made promises about closing gaps in health equity and access. More than two years later, however, many Californians inhabited by its most diverse populations are still struggling to access and afford their health care.
Opinion
OPINION: We’ve seen the stories of Pharma Bro, we’ve read about Big Pharma’s Q1 profit margins. What drug companies are trying to keep secret though, is Pay-for-Delay, a sneaky tactic that brand name and generic drug companies are using – and getting away with — that costs Americans $3.5 billion per year in higher health care costs.
Opinion
OPINION: In signing first-in-the-nation legislation to force greater transparency in drug pricing practices, Gov. Brown has signaled the beginning of a new era on controlling health care costs. But more can and should be done to rein in out-of-control drug prices. Drug costs have been increasing by about 10% per year and there are notorious examples of products that have increased by 500%. Even when insurance pays for medications, the costs always go back to the consumer.
News
Californians face one of the highest-stakes ballots ever on Nov. 8, including fierce and expensive campaigns involving sex, guns, and drugs. Especially drugs.
Opinion
Last week’s executive order on climate change from Gov. Jerry Brown offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on what Pacific Coast climate leadership is helping us achieve. As someone whose career has spanned both economic and environmental interests, I have a unique vantage point on why reducing carbon emissions is a win-win for both business and the environment.
News
California, home to the largest number of older adults in the nation, would become the third state after Colorado and Montana to prohibit using sex as a means to differentiate the prices in long-term care policies — if the measure ultimately becomes law. “I term out in November… so this is my first and last opportunity — as an Assembly member anyway — to take this issue up,” said Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis. Her bill is AB 1553, introduced Jan. 27.
Opinion
OPINION: Just as patients don’t want to see a $15 charge for an aspirin on their hospital bill, hospitals don’t want to charge patients those prices. Hospital pricing has evolved because of decades of government regulations, cost shifts to private payers and unfunded government mandates (including expensive seismic retrofitting), inadequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and the obligation for hospitals to treat all patients, regardless of ability to pay.
Opinion
Indeed, gasoline markets as reflected in the prices have been fairly stable in recent months. And rather than showing signs of spike, prices have been trending downward since July. Of course no one can predict what prices will do in the future, least of all Mr. McCullough, because no one can predict the myriad forces that influence the supply and demand for gasoline.
Opinion
It’s no secret Californians pay some of the highest gas prices in the nation. And even though consumers and the economy have just gotten over last year’s historic gas prices, another spike seems to be knocking on our door. For more than 20 years I have focused on creating efficient energy markets – ranging from helping the prosecution of Enron executives to working on market manipulation issues across the U.S. and Canada. Over the past 18 months California gasoline prices have spiked repeatedly – with little relationship to world oil prices, or supply and demand.
The pharmaceutical section of a Costco store in Folsom, Calif. (Photo: Cassiohabib, via Shutterstock)
