09.29.04
Cowan endorses State House Democrat plan to cut cost of prescription drugs
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Jan Cowan, the Democratic candidate for State Representative from Lincoln County, was joined by former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts in a question and answer session with some 25 local seniors at the Apple Peddler restaurant in Newport on Monday. Cowan said her experience working as an Emergency Medical technician, as a Lincoln County Commissioner most involved with health care and seniors’ issues, and with state legislators on those and other concerns, has made her well-qualified for the state office. “We need people in Salem who understand health care,” she said. Roberts, supporting Cowan’s candidacy, recalled, “When I was governor we finally got Oregon Health Plan approved, and I demanded the funds from the legislature.” (Photo by Joel Gallob) |
Jean Cowan, the Democratic candidate for the State House of Representatives from Lincoln County (District 10), this week endorsed a plan by the Oregon House Democrats to make prescription drugs more affordable for all Oregonians.
Cowan was joined on Monday by former Governor Barbara Roberts, who shepherded the Oregon Health Plan through the state legislature and the federal waiver process, at a question-and-answer session with some two dozen seniors and others, held at the Apple Peddler restaurant in Newport. Both Cowan and Roberts supported the House Democratic plan.
The state House Democrats are calling for two initiatives to cut the spiraling costs of prescription medicines.
One is to use enhanced pool purchasing to slow the rise in drug prices. The legislature should “expand the state purchasing pool for bulk prescription drugs to include more people - businesses and individuals who lack drug coverage,” said Haley Greer, campaign spokesperson for Cowan. Cowan pledged to lower the income limits for participation, or remove them completely, lower the age requirement, and include disabled people in the purchasing pool.
A second element was to “encourage use of lower-cost generic drugs by broadening use of Oregon’s ‘evidence-based’ research process.” That, Greer stated, “enables consumers to buy economical and medically effective generic drugs as alternatives to costly ‘blockbuster’ drugs.”
“Oregon has pioneered a way to use commonly prescribed drugs,” said Cowan, in reference to that third element, “employing an online reference system for doctors and patients. Let’s make the most of it.
“The health care crisis in this state is complicated and dire,” said Cowan. “We need people in the legislature with a broad view of the state’s system, especially in rural areas.”
Cowan worked as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician in Elgin, Ore., and when ambulance service there was threatened, she took over the organization and maintained 24-hour per day staffing with only four volunteers, she said. Cowan has been a medical assistant and office manager in Elgin and then at the Toledo clinic, and served on the Oregon Health Council as it developed the original structure of the Oregon Health Plan.
“This plan by the Oregon House Democrats is a good step forward,” said Cowan, “and I will work hard to implement it once I am elected.”
