Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle March 13, 2019
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Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Opinion
THE SKANNER EDITORIAL:
Consumers Need Transparency in Medication Pricing
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
By Bernie Foster, Publisher
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
F
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2017
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rom antibiotics and insu-
lin to statins and steroids,
medications are essential
for many Americans. But
prescription drug prices have
been rising so fast that people
who depend on them to stay
alive and healthy can’t afford
them.
One company, Turing Phar-
maceuticals, raised the price
of its specialist anti-infection
drug Daraprim by 5,000 per-
cent.
The causes of this health
crisis are complicated: from
lack of real competition in
the drug market to a secretive
pricing system that means the
same drug can be sold at 50
different prices. Then there is
the rebate system that allows
middlemen to skim profits
so the people paying for the
drugs don’t get the benefits.
Sen. Ron Wyden didn’t hold
back when he spoke to phar-
maceutical company bosses
in Congress last week. He laid
into them saying their profits
are “outsized” and their “way
of business is unacceptable.”
We agree. Of course drug
companies should be able
to take a profit. But they
shouldn’t be exploiting the
most vulnerable people in
America just because they
can.
“
All should
have their
cost of drug
prices trans-
parent, up
and down,
so everyone
knows the
costs
Sen. Wyden is working at
the federal level to increase
pricing transparency and to
reduce costs for Medicare re-
cipients. If his bills pass they
will help but more will be
needed.
There is a group of com-
panies known as pharmacy
benefit managers. They are
healthcare benefit managers,
drug stores, and others. All
should have their cost of drug
Of course drug companies should be able to take a profit. But they shouldn’t be
exploiting the most vulnerable people in America just because they can
prices transparent, up and
down, so everyone knows the
costs.
Oregon lawmakers are look-
ing at a long list of bills that
aim to help solve this health
crisis. They should be paying
close attention to drug pric-
ing.
There are more than a doz-
en ideas under consideration.
One idea would allow the state
Board of Pharmacy to import
drugs from Canada.
Another would direct phar-
macists to substitute generics
for branded drugs. A third
would allow pharmacists to
dispense emergency insulin.
And yet another bill would
allow patients who pay out
of pocket to apply the cost to
their deductibles.
And those are just four of
the proposals.
These ideas are worth think-
ing through. So we urge leg-
islators to work closely with
diverse groups, and to aim for
a transparent pricing system
and a fair deal for consumers.
What do you think?
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Waters Leads Charge to Return Consumer Protection to CFPB
A
lthough
Director
Kraninger announced
a plan to suspend the
payday rule, changes
in how the Bureau operated
with regard to these lend-
ers began under Mulvaney.
While at CFPB, he urged Con-
gress to repeal the rule and
joined a lawsuit brought by a
payday lender that sought to
indefinitely suspend the rule.
On March 7, the House Fi-
nancial Services Committee,
chaired by Congresswoman
Maxine Waters marked the
first time that the new Direc-
tor of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) ap-
peared for a hearing in this
capacity. Entitled, Putting
Consumers First? A Semi-An-
nual Review of the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau,”
the session is the first of two
mandated by the Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Financial Reform
and Consumer Protection
Act. Twice a year, CFPB’s Di-
rector must report to each
chamber of Congress.
But before the hearing, oth-
er actions signaled that Direc-
tor Kathy Kraninger would
likely be forced to defend
both the Bureau’s actions
and inactions that occurred
at the hands of Trump polit-
ical appointees. Under Mick
Mulvaney, CFPB’s former
Acting Director, a series of
actions turned the agency’s
focus away from consumers,
regulation and enforcement
to make its policies and struc-
ture more favorable to dereg-
ulation and business.
Charlene
Crowell
NNPA
Columnist
One day before the hearing,
Congresswoman Waters and
other majority members of
the Financial Services Com-
mittee held a news conference
to announce the reintroduc-
tion of the Consumers First
“
whether or not she is on the
road to restoring much of the
damage that was done by Mr.
Mulvaney.”
Ohio’s Rep. Joyce Beatty,
one of the bill’s co-sponsors,
took direct aim at the Bu-
reau’s changed perspective
on payday lending adding,
“Under Trump’s CFPB direc-
tor Mulvaney, the CFPB has
reduced transparency and
accountability, weakened en-
forcement…and became more
interested in helping payday
lenders who allegedly misled
The bill reverses the harmful
structural changes Mulvaney and
his deputies made to damage the
agency one-by-one
Act. Initially filed in 2018 by
Waters, the 2019 version has
the same intent: to block and
reverse the Trump Adminis-
tration’s anti-consumer agen-
da. This year, Waters has the
support of co-sponsoring law-
makers representing 19 states
as diverse as California, Flor-
ida, Michigan, North Carolina
and Virginia. Another boost
– the bill is also supported by
51 consumer, civil rights, and
labor advocates.
“The bill reverses the harm-
ful structural changes Mul-
vaney and his deputies made
to damage the agency one-by-
one,” said Chairwoman Wa-
ters at the news conference.
“We will be asking all of the
questions that our members
deem necessary to find out
consumers and charged exor-
bitantly high interest rates,
rather than protecting the
American consumers they
were sworn to serve.”
Readers may recall that
during Black History Month,
Director
Kraninger
an-
nounced the Bureau’s in-
tent to suspend the August
2019 effective date of the
long-awaited payday rule.
After more than five years of
public forums, rulemaking,
research and thousands of
public comments, Director
Kraninger still intends to be-
gin the rulemaking process
anew.
In response, consumer,
clergy, and civil rights advo-
cates received updated infor-
mation from the Center for
Responsible Lending that pin-
points state by state, how cur-
rent triple-digit interest rates
(APRs) continue to harm con-
sumers across the country.
Regardless of a state’s popula-
tion size or average incomes,
the cost of borrowing payday
loans remains a debt trap.
Further, in states where these
loans remain legal, lenders
continue to squeeze billions
of dollars of fees from bor-
rowers whose annual average
earnings are $22,500.
Prepared by Charla Rios, a
researcher with the Center
for Responsible Lending, the
updated payday map reveals
that in 2019, 31 states charged
200 percent APRs or higher
on payday loans. Of these,
18 states have APRs of 400
percent or more, three more
— Idaho, Nevada, and Texas
charge in excess of 600 per-
cent.
The Lone Star State can
rightfully claim one other dis-
tinction: its 661 percent APR
is the nation’s highest. That
claim becomes even more
curious when that figure is
compared to the actions of
more than 40 cities that have
adopted some kind of regula-
tion on these predatory loans.
In 2011, the City of Dallas led
the municipal curbs with an
ensuing unsuccessful legal
challenge. Fortunately, the
Texas Supreme Court upheld
the city’s restriction.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
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