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AARP presses Legislature to act to cut prescription drug costs
©Associated Press
December 5, 2002
TALLAHASSEE -- AARP Florida urged the Legislature on Wednesday to live up to 2002 campaign rhetoric and make sure people have access to affordable prescription drugs.
"The people who needed prescription drugs before the 5th of November still need them after the 5th of November," said Bentley Lipscomb, state director for AARP Florida.
He displayed charts showing retail charges for some generic drugs are 45 times what it cost to produce them. The costs are excessive across the board statewide, and there are dramatic differences between regions and pharmacies, he said. The generic form of Prozac sold for $40 at a Naples pharmacy compared with $223.99 in Pensacola, he said.
Interest groups like the AARP are scrambling to get their priorities noticed by lawmakers facing a difficult budget year. The House and Senate held organizational sessions last month and will be in session beginning March 4.
Lipscomb said AARP is also concerned that lawmakers might want to raise basic telephone rates again. The Legislature passed a bill last year that would have raised the phone rates, but Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed it.
Lipscomb said most seniors keep basic phone service for emergency purposes, namely 911. If lawmakers want to further "tax" telephone service, he suggested it be done with such add-ons as call waiting or call forwarding.
He also worried that lawmakers might not come up with the money to pay for increased staffing levels to comply with the nursing home reform measure passed earlier this year.
"We have not been able to send the speaker and president a plan and have them follow it," Lipscomb said. "They have a mind of their own."
AARP Florida says it represents more than 2.6-million Florida residents over age 50.
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