Oregon Prescription Drug Program would expand coverage to all uninsured residents

An initiative that will appear on the November ballot in Oregon would expand a state prescription drug program to cover all residents without drug coverage, the Oregonian reports.

The program, called the Oregon Prescription Drug Program, currently is limited to residents older than age 55 with incomes less than $18,130 who have not had drug coverage for at least six months.

The program offers discounts of 30% to 60% on prescription medication for about 150,000 residents.

If approved, the initiative, which is sponsored by state Sen. Bill Morrisette (D), would be expanded to about 600,000 uninsured residents regardless of age or income.

The measure would enable the state to gain more negotiating power when purchasing in bulk from pharmaceutical companies, the Oregonian reports.

Measure 44 is the result of failed legislative attempts to expand the state drug program last year, the Oregonian reports.

The expansion originally started as legislation, but Morrisette rewrote the plan as an initiative and limited it to uninsured individuals after the "pharmaceutical lobby thwarted his bill last year," the Oregonian reports. Ken Johnson, senior vice president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the group is "watching the process under way with great interest" but has not taken a stand on the measure (Colburn, Oregonian, 9/13).