AFFORDABLE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS–OSPIRG's Laura Etherton holds a news conference to release a report on prescription drug prieces for uninsured Oregonians.

On the November 2006 ballot, OSPIRG urged Oregonians to approve measure 44 to expand the state’s prescription drug purchasing pool—the Oregon Prescription Drug Program—to all uninsured Oregonians.

“Consumers are facing skyrocketing prescription drug costs,” said Laura Etherton, OSPIRG’s consumer advocate. “Measure 44 is a smart solution, leveraging the buying power of Oregonians to negotiate lower prices.”

OSPIRG advocated the program’s creation in 2003, and urged the 2005 Legislature to expand it.
In July, Etherton released a report showing that uninsured consumers in the Portland area pay 61 percent more for common prescription drugs than what drug companies charge the federal government for the same drugs. The report also revealed that Oregon’s uninsured pay 23 percent more than prices available through Oregon’s purchasing pool.

“With no one to negotiate lower prices on their behalf, uninsured consumers face sticker shock at the drug counter,” said Etherton.

Through the survey, OSPIRG determined how much uninsured consumers pay for 10 common drugs used by Americans under 65, then compared the results with prices paid by the federal government, with a Canadian pharmacy and with Oregon’s prescription drug purchasing pool.

Among the survey’s key findings:

• In the Portland area, uninsured consumers pay 61 percent more than what the federal government pays for the same drugs, ranking the city 15th out of the 35 cities surveyed.

• Oregon’s prescription drug buying pool, The Oregon Prescription Drug Program, succeeds in negotiating lower prices for low income seniors and some public entities. Uninsured consumers not eligible for the program pay 23 percent more on average, and as high as 44 percent more, for the drugs surveyed.

• The uninsured in Portland pay more than twice as much for their medication at local drug stores as they would pay at a Canadian pharmacy. The hormone replacement drug Premarin costs 520 percent more at Portland area drug stores than it does at a Canadian pharmacy.

• The average price paid by uninsured consumers in Portland increased by 12.5 percent, faster than the general rate of inflation over the two-year period between 2004 and 2006, when OSPIRG conducted a similar study.

To address the problem, OSPIRG called for Oregonians to approve Measure 44 to expand the Oregon Prescription Drug Program to negotiate lower drug costs, and for greater availability of low cost generic drugs.