We want to spend this week discussing legislation passing through Maryland Assembly. First we need to note this----Maryland is one of a few states having a legislative period of only 3 MONTHS.
Maryland has kept its assembly sessions at the same 3 months for centuries back when a session may have had a few hundred bills. Look today to see our 2017 Maryland Assembly session with 1200 bills all done in 3 months. Needless to say----there is no time to discuss beyond a cursory superficial way------there is no time for Maryland citizens to have time to bring input-----almost all session public voice comes from global Wall Street non-profit leaders. If you are a citizen with a voice NOT GLOBAL WALL STREET you will find these committee chairs coming up with all kinds of reasons for you not to have time to speak. Left social progressive voices are silenced in general session public meetings while CAMERAS ARE SHOWING THAT COMMITTEE MEETING.
Needless to say--------these bills are rammed through a crony process and there is so many bills made public in so short of time----the general public has NO TIME to organize fight ---no way to know that a bill pages long sounding social progressive with very, very, very, very bad global Wall Street policies buried inside.
Maryland has always been global Wall Street----making the rich extremely richer but this format----3 month sessions with tons of bills are now coming to US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones. This is how global Wall STreet pols pass all that policy for MOVING FORWARD ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE while most people are watching Trump on CNN.
Legislative Session Length
12/2/2010
Table of Contents Contact Legislative session length may be unrestricted, or it may be limited. Session length limitations are set in a variety of ways. The limits may be found in constitution, statute or chamber rule. They also may set indirectly by restricting the number of days for which a legislator receives compensation, per diem or mileage reimbursement.
In the early 1960s, 17 states did not place restrictions on the length of their legislative sessions. In another 10 states, the limits were indirect. Several states increased their session length. These were Colorado (from 120 to 160); Georgia (from 80 to 85); Kansas (from 90 to 120); Minnesota (from 90 to 120); and South Dakota (from 60 to 75).
Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, session limitations became more defined. Fewer states had unrestricted sessions, and the number of states with indirect session limits declined.
REAGAN/CLINTON ERA----
Since the late 1980s, several session lengths were shortened. Colorado's session was cut to 120 days in 1988. In 1992, Louisiana changed its constitution to shorten and limit the scope of its even-year session. In 1998, the citizens of Nevada adopted a constitutional amendment that restricts the legislative session to 120 days. In 2002, an amendment to the Louisiana Constitution changed the timing of its general and fiscal sessions and adjusted the length of the fiscal session; the changes went into effect January 2004. In 2006, Alaska voters passed an initiative establishing a 90 day session in statute, which took effect in 2008.
In November 2008, however, South Dakota voters approved a constitutional amendment that lengthened legislative sessions. The amendment equalized the length of session at 40 legislative days each year. Previously, session length was 40 legislative days in odd-numbered years, and 35 legislative days in even-numbered years.
Currently, only 11 states do not place a limit on the length of regular session. In the remaining 39, the limits are set by constitution, statute, chamber rule or indirect method.
Legislative Session
LengthStateCurrent Session Length Limit
Method of Setting
Alabama30 L in 105 CStatute
Alaska
90 C
Statute
Arizona
Sat of week in which 100th C falls
Chamber rule
Arkansas
Odd-60 C
Even-30 C
Constitution
California
Odd-None
Even-Nov 30
Odd-Sept 12
Even-Aug 31
Constitution
Chamber Rule
Colorado
120 C
Constitution
Connecticut
Odd-Wed after 1st Mon in June
Even- Wed after 1st Mon in May
Constitution
Delaware
June 30
Constitution
Florida
60 C
Constitution
Georgia
40 L
Constitution
Hawaii
60 L
Constitution
Idaho
None
Not applicable
Illinois
None
Not applicable
Indiana
Odd-Apr 29
Even-Mar 14
Statute
Iowa
Odd-110 C
Even-100 C
Indirect
Kansas
Odd-None
Even-90 C
Constitution
Kentucky
Odd: 30 L or Mar 30
Even:60 L or Apr 15
Constitution
Louisiana
Odd-45 L in 60 C
Even-60 L in 85 C
Constitution
Maine
Odd-3rd Wed in June
Even-3rd Wed in Apr
Statute
Maryland
90 C
Constitution
Massachusetts
Formal sessions:
Odd-3rd Wed in November
Even-July 31
Informal sessions: None
Chamber rule
Michigan
None
Not applicable
Minnesota
120 L total within biennium or 1st Mon after 3rd Sat in May each year
Constitution
Mississippi
90 C except year after gubernatorial election,
then 125 C
Constitution
Missouri
May 30
Constitution
Montana
Biennial session; 90 L
Constitution
Nebraska
Odd-90 L
Even-60 L
Constitution
Nevada
Biennial session ; 120 C
Constitution
New Hampshire
45 L or July 1
Indirect
New Jersey
None
Not applicable
New Mexico
Odd-60 C
Even-30 C
Constitution
New York
None
Not applicable
North Carolina
None
Not applicable
North Dakota
Biennial session ; 80 L
Constitution
Ohio
None
Not applicable
Oklahoma
Last Fri in May
Constitution
Oregon
Odd-160C
Even-35C
Constitution
Pennsylvania
None
Not applicable
Rhode Island
None
Not applicable
South Carolina
1st Thurs in June
Statute
South Dakota
40 L
Constitution
Tennessee
90 L
Indirect
Texas
Biennial session ; 140 C
Constitution
Utah
45 C
Constitution
Vermont
None
Virginia
Odd-30 C
Even-60 C
Constitution
Washington
Odd-105 C
Even-60 C
Constitution
West Virginia
60 C
Constitution
Wisconsin
None
Not applicable
Wyoming
Odd-40 L
Even-20 L
Constitution
________________________________________
We wanted to share Maryland Assembly's legislative agenda---below we see only the SENATE----think as well the HOUSE has near the same and think how as a citizen do we have any opportunity to have political power? Remember, most of these bills are introduced through our global Wall Street pols for the benefit of corporations and the rich in Maryland or even a corporation tied to Maryland interests. These bills are not seen by WE THE PEOPLE until these sessions. This is how corporate interest bills fly right through with only a clause surrounded by lots of PRETEND LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE talking points.
Meanwhile, the pols of course having to throw those bones to local voters install what is a small portion of bills directed at citizens or small business and guess what? You can bet global Wall Street has reviewed those bills to make sure they do not undermine MOVING FORWARD.
TO EDUCATE ON PUBLIC POLICY IS TO BE WILLING TO READ THROUGH WHAT ARE DELIBERATELY BORING, LEGALESE, AND LONG BILLS TO FIND THOSE VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY BAD GLOBAL WALL STREET NEO-LIBERAL ONE WORLD POLICIES.
Twelve hundred bills is a really long list so we simply are printing the first and last few pages to show the length.
Status of All Senate Legislation Introduced
2017 Session
As of 5:50 AM on 5/30/2017
(Bill numbers in
bold
indicate enacted legislation;
italics
indicate last action;
dates shown are
calendar dates, with legislative dates in parentheses as needed)
Bill
Short Title/Current Status
SB 1
Education
–
Specialized Intervention Services
–
Reports
Chapter 728
–
5/25
SB 2
Maryland Heritage Areas Authority
–
Revision of Boundaries and
Bounda
ry Maps
Chapter 512
–
5/4
SB 3
Income Tax
–
Subtraction Modification
–
Military Retirement Income
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
1/18
SB 4
Minority Business Enterprises
–
Program Participation
–
Requirements
and Reauthorization
Chapter 340
–
4/18
SB 5
Juvenile Law
–
Continued Detention
–
Minimum Age
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings
–
1/30
SB 6
Occupational and Professional Licensing Boards, Commissions, and
Regulatory Entities
–
Notifications of Applicants, Licensees,
Registrants, and Permit Holders
Chapter 246
–
4/18
SB 7
Governor
’
s P
–
20 Leadership Council
–
College and Career Readiness and
College Completion Reporting
–
Revisions
Chapter 775
–
5/25
SB 8
Insurance
–
Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment
Act
Chapter 36
–
4/11
SB 9
Motor Vehicles
–
Autonomous and Connected Vehicles
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings
–
2/13
SB 10
Child Custody and Visitation
–
Deployed Parents
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings
–
3/17
SB 11
Correctional Services
–
Correctional Officers
’
Bill of Rights
–
Composition of Hearing Board
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings; Withdrawn
–
1/30
SB 12
Vehicle Laws
–
Obstruction Hanging From Rearview Mirror
–
Enfor
cement
Senate: Returned Passed
–
4/10 (4/4)
SB 13
Public Safety
–
State Militia
House: Hearing Health and Government Operations
–
3/30
Bill
Short Title/Current Status
SB 14
Earned Income Tax Credit
–
Individuals Without Qualifying Children
–
Expansion
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
1/24
SB 15
Insurance
–
Charitable Gift Annuities
–
Special Permit Holders
–
Required Financial Statements
Chapter 504
–
5/4
SB 16
Public Safety
–
Firearm Application
Chapter 192
–
4/18
SB 17
Unemployment Insurance
–
Eligibility for Benefits
–
Business Operation
Closings
Chapter 249
–
4/18
SB 18
Public Ethics
–
Bicounty Commissions
–
Financial Disclosure
Chapter 283
–
4/18
SB 19
Insurance
–
Surplus Lines Insurers, Surplus Lines Brokers, and
Reinsurers
Chapter 37
–
4/11
SB 20
Wicomico County
–
Vehicle Dealer
’
s Licenses
–
Motor Home and Travel
Trailer Shows
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings
–
2/13
SB 21
Unemployment Insurance
–
Recovery of
Benefits
–
Collection by
Assessment
Chapter 244
–
4/18
SB 22
Criminal Procedure
–
Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
–
Claimant
Award Ba
sis
Chapter 7
–
4/4
SB 23
Handgun Permits
–
Alternative Expiration Date
–
Private Detectives,
Security Guards, and Special Police Officers
Chapter 190
–
4/18
SB 24
Public Safety
–
Eyewitness Identification Policies
–
Repeal of Submission
Requirement
Chapter 8
–
4/4
SB 25
Maryland Transit Administration
–
Transit Service
–
Contracted
Taxicab Service
Chapter 716
–
5/25
SB 26
Maryland False Claims Act
–
Municipal Corporations
Chapter 632
–
5/25
SB 27
Child Abuse and Neglect
–
Substance
–
Exposed Newborns
–
Reporting
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings
–
2/20
SB 28
State Lottery Tickets
–
Prohibited Acts
–
Delivery Service
Senate: Recommitted to Education, Health, and Environmental
Affairs
–
1/19
***************************************************************
**********************************************************
77
Bill
Short Title/Current Status
SB 1161
Education
–
Summer Meals Expansion Grant Program
–
Established
Senate: Hearing Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
–
3/16
SB 1162
Creation of a State Debt
–
Prince George
’
s County
–
Capitol Heights
Municipal Multiservice Center
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/13
SB 1163
Motor Vehicles
–
Duplicate Drivers
’
Licenses
–
Victims of Robbery
Senate: First Reading Senate Rules
–
3/1
SB 1164
Maryland Transportation Authority
–
Membership
Senate: Hearing Finance
–
3/22
SB 1165
Maryland Longitudinal Data System
–
Student and Workforce Data
Linkage
–
Extension of Time Limit
Senate: Returned Passed
–
4/10 (4/2)
SB 1166
State Designations
–
The Preakness Stakes as the State Cultural Event
Senate: Hearing Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
–
3/16
SB 1167
Creation of a State Debt
–
Cecil County
–
Elkton Sportsplex Campus and
Performing
–
Visual Arts Center
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1168
Pharmacists
–
Administration of the Influenza Vaccination
–
Age
Requirement
Senate: Hea
ring Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
canceled
–
3/21
SB 1169
Unemployment Insurance
–
Charge of Benefits
–
Waiver Due to Natu
ral
Disaster
Chapter 733
–
5/25
SB 1170
Creation of a State Debt
–
Howard County
–
Tau Pi Mentoring Program
Ho. Co. 25
–
17
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1171
Harford County
–
Alcoholic Beverages
–
Waiver from School Distance
Restrictions
Senate: Passed Enrolled
–
4/10 (4/3)
SB 1172
Alcoholic Beverages
–
Class 5 Breweries
–
Barrelage and Hours of Sale
Senate: Hearing Educati
on, Health, and Environmental Affairs
–
3/16
SB 1173
Higher Education Degree and Job Certification Without Debt Act of 2017
Senate: Hearin
g Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
–
3/16
SB 1174
Public Health
–
Certificates of Birth
–
Births Outside an Institution
Senate: Returned Passed
–
4/10 (4/2)
78
2017 Regular Session
-
Current
Status Report (Senate)
Bill
Short Title/Current Status
SB 1175
Creation of a State Debt
–
Prince George
’
s County
–
Transit Oriented
Development Public Art P
rojects
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1176
Creation of a State Debt
–
St. Mary
’
s County
–
Maryland Dove
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1177
Harford County
–
Alcoholic Beverages
–
Common Direct or Indirect
Sharing of Profit
Chap
ter 497
–
5/4
SB 1178
Creation of a State Debt
–
Prince George
’
s County
–
District Heights
Veterans Park
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1179
Creation of a State Debt
–
Harford County
–
McComas School Museum
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1180
Public Safety
–
Handgun Permit Review Board
–
Repeal
Senate: First Reading Senate Rules
–
3/6
SB 1181
Creation of a State Debt
–
Anne Arundel County
–
Historic Annapolis
Museum
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1182
Creation of a State Debt
–
Baltimore City
–
Baltimore Museum of Art
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1183
Creation of a State Debt
–
Baltimore City
–
Maryland Center for
Veterans Education and Training
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/13
SB 1184
Foreclosed and Vacant Residential Property
–
Common Ownership
Communities
–
Payment of Regular Assessments
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings; Withdrawn
–
3/17
SB 1185
Real Property
–
New Residential Construction
–
Correction of
Drainage
Defect
Senate: Unfavorable Report by Judicial Proceedings; Withdrawn
–
3/30
SB 1186
Creation of a State Debt
–
Baltimore City
–
C
ross Street Market
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/11
SB 1187
Criminal Procedure
–
Life Without Parole
–
Repeal of Sentencing
Proceeding
Senate: Recommitted to Judicial Proceedings
–
4/4 (3/29)
SB 1188
Creation of a State Debt
–
Baltimore Cou
nty
–
Bais Yaakov Middle
School
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/13
SB 1189
Creation of a State Debt
–
Baltimore County
–
Ner Israel Rabbinical
College
Senate: Hearing Budget and Taxation
–
3/13
79
Bill
Short Title/Current Status
SB 1190
Bay Restoration Fund
–
Upgraded Wastewater Facilities
–
Grants to
Counties and Municipalities
Chapter 397
–
5/4
SB 1191
Schools and Child Care Centers
–
State Grant Program
–
Security
Upgrades for Facilities at Risk of Hate Crimes or Attacks
Chapter 732
–
5/25
SB 1192
Labor and Employment
–
Unemployment Insuran
ce
–
Independent
Contractors and Severance Pay
Senate: Hearing Finance canceled
–
3/28
SB 1193
Anne Arundel County
–
Controlled Water Ski Areas in Maynadier Creek
–
Operation of Vessel
–
Hours of Operation
House: First Reading House Rules and Executive Nominations
–
4/5
(3/29)
SB 1194
Public Health
–
Substance Abuse Treatment Outcome Partnership Fund
House: Hearing Health and Government Operations
–
4/7
SB 1195
Environment
–
Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing
–
Blood Lead Level
Senate: Hearing Judicial Proceedings
–
3/29
SB 1196
Tri
–
County Council for Southern Maryland
–
Financing Purchase or
Lease of Property
–
Exemption From Procurement Law
House: Hearing Health and Government
Operations
–
4/10
SB 1197
Public Health
–
Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission
–
Membership,
Licensing, and Studies
Senate: Hearing Finance
–
3/29
SB 1198
Prince George
’
s County Regional Medical Center Act of 2017
Chapter 19
–
4/6
SB 1199
Long
–
Term Care Insurance
–
Sale or Transfer of Book of Business
Senate: Hearing Finance
–
3/30
SB 1200
Internet Consumer Privacy Rights Act of 2017
House: Referred Economic Matters
–
4/10 (4/3)
____________________________________
Below we see one sad example of LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE POSING. Maryland exempted itself from Medicare oversight these few decades--illegally------just to pool health funding and send billions of dollars to growing health corporations nationally and expand overseas. This pooling of Federal health funds with private state health system insurance is what created TIERED HEALTH CARE and is that model for ROMNEY CARE---THE RIGHT WING END OF PUBLIC HEALTH. The citizens of Maryland have watched as equal protection administration of Medicare and Medicaid brought lots and lots of Federal funding to low-income communities---to our seniors and their health facilities while Maryland was allowed to let those public health facilities decline and become harmful for citizens.
Baltimore and global Johns Hopkins is ground zero for patenting health devices, health procedures, PHARMA and it is top lobbyist for NOT REGULATING HEALTH CARE. It drives the push to keep name brand patented medicine front and center while allowing vital generic PHARMA and highly successful medical devices out of patent be sidelined while pushing newly patented PHARMA and medical devices foremost.
BAltimore pols are front and center on all that is global health corporation systems and profit-driven health care policies these few decades and below you see almost all these Baltimore pols signed on to this GENERICS BILL. Which corporations had a voice in writing health policy in Trans Pacific Trade Pact? Global Johns Hopkins----global Bill Gates PHARMA ---and TPP says----patented medicine trumps generics.
Keep in mind---Baltimore is building two biotech facilities tied to global Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland Medical System hospitals both of which are designed to be medical PATENT MILLS. All Maryland and Baltimore pols pushed this kind of funding and they almost all support TPP.
Public Health
–
Essential Off
–
Patent or Generic Drugs
–
Price Gouging
–
Prohibition
House: Passed Enrolled
–
4/10 (4/2)
Entitled:
Public Health - Essential Off-Patent or Generic Drugs - Price Gouging - Prohibition
Sponsored by:Speaker
Status:In the House - Passed Enrolled
Synopsis:
Prohibiting a manufacturer or wholesale distributor from engaging in price gouging in the sale of an essential off-patent or generic drug; establishing that it is not a violation of a specified provision of the Act for a wholesale distributor to increase a price of an essential off-patent or generic drug under specified circumstances; authorizing the Maryland Medical Assistance Program to notify the Attorney General of an increase in the price of an essential off-patent or generic drug under specified circumstances; etc.
The Speaker (By Request - Office of the Attorney General) and Delegates Bromwell, Anderson, Atterbeary, Barkley, B. Barnes, D. Barnes, Barron, Barve, Beidle, Brooks, Carr, Chang, Clippinger, Conaway, Cullison, Davis, Dumais, Ebersole, Fennell, Fraser-Hidalgo, Frick, Frush, Gaines, Gilchrist, Glenn, Gutierrez, Hayes, Haynes, Healey, Hettleman, Hill, Hixson, Holmes, C. Howard, Jackson, Jalisi, Jameson, Jones, Kelly, Knotts, Krimm, Lafferty, Lam, R. Lewis, Lierman, Lisanti, Luedtke, McCray, McIntosh, A. Miller, Moon, Morales, Oaks, Patterson, Pena-Melnyk, Platt, Proctor, Queen, Reznik, Robinson, Rosenberg, Sample-Hughes, Sanchez, Sophocleus, Stein, Sydnor, Tarlau, Turner, Valderrama, Vallario, Waldstreicher, Walker, A. Washington, M. Washington, C. Wilson, K. Young, P. Young, Pendergrass, Angel, Kipke, McDonough, Metzgar, Miele, Saab, West, Aumann, Carey, Mautz, and S. Howard
************************************************
This is what we call left social progressive posing as 99% of Maryland citizens want generics access pols are simply pretending to be listening to WE THE PEOPLE.
Maryland is ground zero for TPP---ground zero for the most private state health system---ground zero for privatizing and ending Federal Medicare and Medicaid making it block grant-----and ground zero for BIOTECH PATENT MILLS not wanting generics taking from profits. Yet we have that bill with tons of global Wall Street pols as CO-SPONSORS......
Maryland is ground zero for TPP---ground zero for the most private state health system---ground zero for privatizing and ending Federal Medicare and Medicaid making it block grant-----and ground zero for BIOTECH PATENT MILLS not wanting generics taking from profits. Yet we have that bill with tons of global Wall Street pols as CO-SPONSORS......
And here is the POSING------Maryland always passes laws sold as social progressive with language TOO VAGUE TO ENFORCE.............
'Despite this unparalleled level of success, the Maryland General Assembly today passed a bill, at the behest of the state attorney general, to give the attorney general the authority to take legal action against generic pharmaceutical companies that engage in “price gouging,” defined as a company instituting a price increase believed to be “unconscionable,” a vague and imprecise term that provides no meaningful standard by which companies may discern whether their prices set in the free market comply with the law'
So this law was actually written against generics under the guise of PRICE GOUGING ----what will a Maryland Attorney General who is BFF with the US FED think is price gouging and will it be used to make it unprofitable for generics to be manufactured? YOU BETCHA.
Veto Maryland House Bill 631, Which Would Harm Patients by Chilling Generic Drug Competition
- Home
- /Advocacy
- Veto Maryland House Bill 631, Which Would Harm Patients by Chilling Generic Drug Competition
- Chester “Chip” Davis, Jr. calls on Governor Hogan in a commentary article for Maryland Matters to veto H.B. 631, legislation that would decrease generic drug competition in Maryland. “In order to preserve the savings that generic drugs provide to Marylanders, Gov. Hogan should veto this bill,” said Davis.
- H.B. 631 ignores the real cause of increasing prescription drug costs. The bill only applies to generic drugs, not much more expensive brand-name drugs that cost Maryland patients and tax-payers billions of dollars per year.
- Brand name drugs cost patients in Maryland over $3.5 billion dollars, while generics saved Maryland $3.7 billion, including state programs and your tax dollars – in just one year alone.
- This equates to more than 28% of what Governor Hogan’s Administration proposed to spend on all healthcare expenditures in the state for FY 2017.
- Generic drugs are a true success story. Generic medicines account for 90% of all prescriptions, but they only account for 27% of drug costs.
- Brand name drugs cost patients in Maryland over $3.5 billion dollars, while generics saved Maryland $3.7 billion, including state programs and your tax dollars – in just one year alone.
- H.B. 631 would chill competition among generic drug manufacturers and allow government bureaucrats to operate the market instead of free market competition. The bill allows the government to impose costs and regulatory burdens whenever bureaucrats believe that pricing of a medicine is “not justified.”
- Year over year, generic drug prices fall, while brand name drug prices rise. The overall price of generics fell over 8% in 2016, and prices are down over 70% since 2008. Rather than allow the free market to continue working, Maryland would become the first state to reject the market in favor of more government regulation.
- By subjecting manufacturers of generic drugs to draconian penalties – while ignoring the substantial costs of brand-name prescription drugs – the policy in H.B. 631 would provide an incentive for generic drug companies to avoid selling their products in our state.
- If fewer affordable generic drugs are available in Maryland, we all lose.
- H.B. 631 has no meaningful standard to allow companies to know when they are breaking the law. The bill does not define when a price is “not justified” or “excessive.”
- Given the vague standards set forth in the bill, companies would perpetually be at risk of facing prosecution for taking actions that normally occur during the course of business within the competitive free market.
- Without a true standard dictating when a free market price is “justified,” H.B. 631 would provide no notice for companies to know whether they are in violation of the new law.
- Without clear guidance under the law, companies will need to find ways to mitigate the risk of costly litigation with the Attorney General, which creates incentives that could ultimately harm patients.
- Gerard F. Anderson, a professor of health policy and management and professor of international health at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School Public Health said “the generic industry works incredibly well when there are three, four competitors in the market. It works less well when there are two, and it doesn’t work at all when there’s none.”
'By providing the attorney general with this new level of unchecked and unprecedented authority, where he or any of his successors could choose to sue a manufacturer for raising the price of a generic statin from 10 cents to 12 cents, the Maryland General Assembly has increased the likelihood of the marketplace described by Prof. Anderson that “doesn’t work.”'
And here it is as well------Maryland Assembly did not pass laws to control private patented name brand profiteering---it aimed at generics with law written so vaguely as to be used to CHILL GENERIC MANUFACTURING killing a healthy, competitive market. Mind you, MR Chip Davis is no LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE on protecting generics-----generics have been allowed to profiteer as well----but it is a sign of Maryland wanting to DISSUADE GENERIC MANUFACTURING.
This is how Maryland writes all its bills----making them sound helpful to 99% of citizens with a goal of harming them all for maximized health industry profits. This health care bill is MOVING FORWARD the ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION and Trans Pacific Trade Pact policies.
Guest commentary: Hogan should veto legislation that would decrease generic drug competition
Posted on April 10, 2017 by marylandmattersblogBy Chester “Chip” Davis
Generic drugs have been and continue to be an amazing success story in our health care system.
According to the annual Generic Drug Saving and Access Report compiled by QuintilesIMS, in 2015 generic drugs delivered $227 billion in savings to the U.S. health care system, and $1.6 trillion in savings over the last decade. For that same calendar year, generic drugs comprised 89 percent of all prescriptions written in the United States, but accounted for only 27 percent of total prescription drug costs.
This means the remaining 11 percent of all prescriptions in the U.S. market — branded pharmaceuticals — accounted for 73 percent of total costs. It is an incredible feat when any industry can meet almost 90 percent of all market demand, while doing so for less than one-third of all total costs.
Unlike almost every other sector in health care, including hospitals, insurance, branded pharmaceuticals, etc., year over year the generic drug sector actually experiences price deflation, not inflation. This was reflected in a five-plus year study released last fall by the Government Accountability Office. The primary reason for overall prices going down in the generic sector is due to the level of fierce competition in the generic marketplace, where multiple manufacturers are forced to aggressively compete on price.
Despite this unparalleled level of success, the Maryland General Assembly today passed a bill, at the behest of the state attorney general, to give the attorney general the authority to take legal action against generic pharmaceutical companies that engage in “price gouging,” defined as a company instituting a price increase believed to be “unconscionable,” a vague and imprecise term that provides no meaningful standard by which companies may discern whether their prices set in the free market comply with the law.
The term is defined even further, yet just as vaguely, as “excessive.” To make their case, the attorney general and other supporters often cite to several high-profile cases over the last few years – such as the AIDS drug Daraprim – that have provoked a level of public outrage and political momentum to take action.
Too bad Daraprim is not a generic drug. It is a branded drug with no competitors. Curiously, the bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly today ignores the pricing of branded drugs with no competitors. Yet generic drugs in a competitive market that take a 500 percent price increase – from one cent to five cents per pill – could be subject to legal action by the attorney general.
While the desire to take action against bad actors in the industry is understandable, what has been utterly lost in the debate over prescription drug costs in Maryland this session is the law of unintended consequences; namely, that by giving the attorney general this unbounded and unprecedented level of authority to control pricing in a competitive free market, generic companies will be exposed to a level of risk in Maryland that will require them to evaluate whether they want to continue to market affordable medicines within the state.
And if the new level of risk presented by the legislation compels several manufacturers, all competing in the same therapeutic market, each on its own, to decide that the risk is too high, they will look to stop manufacturing or marketing certain medicines. If that happens, it will mean less competition, not more, and that will translate into fewer options and ultimately higher health care costs, none of which is a good for Maryland patients and taxpayers.
Recently before a U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Gerard Anderson, a professor of health policy and management and professor of international health at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, testified on the need to remove barriers to generic competition. As part of his testimony Prof. Anderson stated:
“The generic industry works incredibly well when there are three, four competitors in the market. It works less well when there are two, and it doesn’t work at all when there’s none.”
By providing the attorney general with this new level of unchecked and unprecedented authority, where he or any of his successors could choose to sue a manufacturer for raising the price of a generic statin from 10 cents to 12 cents, the Maryland General Assembly has increased the likelihood of the marketplace described by Prof. Anderson that “doesn’t work.” While lawmakers had the opportunity to narrow the focus of the bill, which would have still given the attorney general the authority to go after bad actors such as the manufacturer of Daraprim and other branded pharmaceuticals, they chose not to do so.
In 2015, generic drugs saved the state of Maryland $3.7 billion, which equates to more than 28 percent of what Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration proposed to spend on all health care expenditures in the state for fiscal 2017. And with this bill set to become law, that historical level of savings is now at risk, yet another policy that would work against, not for, Maryland patients and taxpayers.
In order to preserve the savings that generic drugs provide to Marylanders, Gov. Hogan should veto this bill.
A number of Maryland lawmakers are already touting Maryland’s leadership in being the first state in the U.S. to pass this type of legislation. One day, in the not too distant future, they should be prepared to defend why Maryland was the first state to lead the nation in creating less market-based competition and higher overall prescription drug costs, while simultaneously increasing the risk of future drug shortages for Maryland’s patients.
Chester “Chip” Davis is the president and CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines.
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'In the second letter, after a meeting with Senate Finance Committee International Trade Counsel Everett Eissenstat, Flórez wrote that Eissenstat said that authorizing the generic version would “violate the intellectual property rights” of Novartis. Eissenstat also said that if “the Ministry of Health did not correct this situation, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States and related interest groups could become very vocal and interfere with other interests that Colombia could have in the United States,” according to the letter'.
Global Johns Hopkins is of course front and center in this International Trade Counsel-----look at how captured these Congressional Senate committees are----CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA-----waxing for the DARK AGES days of Roman Empire.
When a state's Congressional pols are raging Clinton/Obama neo-liberals-----when a state assembly is filled with raging Clinton neo-liberals ----when a Baltimore City Hall is filled with raging Bush/Clinton global Wall Street---then they are not going to pass laws helping GENERICS.
If we notice Baltimore Sun and all Maryland media out of 1200 Senate bills and even more House bills chose to make this bill headlines to FOOL MARYLAND CITIZENS.
Leaks Show Senate Aide Threatened Colombia Over Cheap Cancer Drug
Zaid Jilani
May 14 2016, 10:30 a.m.
Leaked diplomatic letters sent from Colombia’s Embassy in Washington describe how a staffer with the Senate Finance Committee, which is led by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, warned of repercussions if Colombia moves forward on approving the cheaper, generic form of a cancer drug.
The drug is called imatinib. Its manufacturer, Novartis, markets the drug in Colombia as Glivec. The World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines last year suggested it as treatment not only for chronic myeloid leukemia, but also gastrointestinal tumors. Currently, the cost of an annual supply is over $15,000, or about two times the average Colombian’s income.
On April 26, Colombian Minister of Health Alejandro Gaviria announced plans to take the first step in a multi-step process that could eventually result in allowing generic production of the drug. A generic version of the drug that recently began production in India is expected to cost 30 percent less than the brand-name version.
Andrés Flórez, deputy chief of mission at the Colombian Embassy in Washington, D.C., wrote letters on April 27 and April 28 to Maria Angela Holguin of Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, detailing concerns he had about possible congressional retaliation for such a move. The letters were obtained by the nonprofit group Knowledge Ecology International, which works on drug patent issues. They were also leaked to Colombian media outlets El Espectador and NoticiasUno.
In the second letter, after a meeting with Senate Finance Committee International Trade Counsel Everett Eissenstat, Flórez wrote that Eissenstat said that authorizing the generic version would “violate the intellectual property rights” of Novartis. Eissenstat also said that if “the Ministry of Health did not correct this situation, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States and related interest groups could become very vocal and interfere with other interests that Colombia could have in the United States,” according to the letter.
In particular, Flórez expressed a worry that “this case could jeopardize the approval of the financing of the new initiative ‘Peace Colombia.’”
The Obama administration has pledged $450 million for Peace Colombia, which seeks to bring together rebels and the government to end decades of fighting that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and a shattered civil society. These funds will be used for, among other things, removing land mines. The country has the second-highest number of land-mine fatalities in the world, behind only Afghanistan.
Hatch has close ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical and health product manufacturers form the second-largest pool of donors to his campaigns. The industry’s main trade association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, spent $750,000 funding an outside nonprofit that backed Hatch’s re-election in 2012. The lobbying group also employed Scott Hatch, one of the senator’s sons, as a lobbyist, while donating to his family charity, the Utah Families Foundation.
For his part, Eissenstat has won the “Lighthouse Award” at the annual dinner of the Washington International Trade Association. WITA’s board of directors is composed largely of government relations staff from major corporations who help shape trade and intellectual property policy in their favor: WalMart, Microsoft, and Gap all have representatives. In bestowing the award on Eissenstat, WITA board member Bill Lane said the award is given to a “shining light of the trade community.”
The same year, his boss Hatch received the dinner’s Congressional Leadership Award.
Andrea Carolina Reyes, a pharmacist who works with the Colombia-based medical nonprofit Misión Salud, called the pressure to suppress the cheaper drug harmful. “I would … ask [Hatch] to consider that we’re talking about people’s lives, and this needs to mean something to him,” she told The Intercept. “In Colombia, we really have health constraints. There’s people, they have no access to anything. They live hours from health institutions, and they don’t have even the cheapest medicines.”
Neither Eissenstat nor Hatch responded to multiple requests for comment. “We do not comment on internal correspondence,” Olga Acosta, press officer at the Colombian Embassy, told The Intercept.
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WHO PUSHED HOUSE BILL 631-----AS PROTECTING GENERICS?
MAGGIE MCINTOSH was chair of Health before being moved to APPROPRIATIONS ----Antonio Hayes and Sandy Rosenberg -----being the usual global Wall Street tools in Baltimore-----Pena-Melnyk always sells herself as left social progressive and always makes these bad votes. Please watch as MAGGIE MCINTOSH----SIMPLY AN O'MALLEY is moved into a possible run for governor----she is the face of MARYLAND AS RAGING GLOBAL FAR-RIGHT WING CLINTON NEO-LIBERALISM----ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE ----
Washington----Oaks----Robinson ---Hayes---Haynes----Conaway-----all PRETENDING THIS BILL PROTECTS GENERICS----if you are angry at PHARMA going sky high----of generics being under attack---hold these global Wall Street CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA pols accountable.
When WE THE PEOPLE have rolling peaceful protests for days, weeks, and months to get rid of global Wall Street pols----these are they! SHOW THEM THE MONEY AND THEY WILL DO ANYTHING THEY ARE TOLD!
This is that black, brown, and white citizen 5% to the 1%-------killing WE THE PEOPLE.
HOUSE OF DELEGATES
STANDING COMMITTEES
HEALTH & GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
[photo, House Office Building, 6 Bladen St. (from College Ave.), Annapolis, Maryland]
Origin & Functions
Subcommittees
KAREN LEWIS YOUNG
Democrat, District 3A, Frederick County
CHRISTOPHER R. (CHRIS) WEST
Republican, District 42B, Baltimore County
KATHY SZELIGA
Republican, District 7, Baltimore County & Harford County
SHEREE L. SAMPLE-HUGHES
Democrat, District 37A, Dorchester & Wicomico Counties
SID A. SAAB
Republican, District 33, Anne Arundel County
SAMUEL I. (SANDY) ROSENBERG
Democrat, District 41, Baltimore City
ANDREW PLATT
Democrat, District 17, Montgomery County
JOSELINE A. PEÑA-MELNYK
Democrat, District 21, Anne Arundel & Prince George's Counties
JAMES MATTHEW (MATT) MORGAN
Republican, District 29A, St. Mary's County
MARICE I. MORALES
Democrat, District 19, Montgomery County
CHRISTIAN J. MIELE
Republican, District 8, Baltimore County
RICHARD W. METZGAR
Republican, District 6, Baltimore County
PATRICK L. McDONOUGH
Republican, District 7, Baltimore County & Harford County
SUSAN W. KREBS
Republican, District 5, Carroll County
NICHOLAUS R. KIPKE
Republican, District 31B, Anne Arundel County
ARIANA B. KELLY
Democrat, District 16, Montgomery County
TERRI L. HILL, M.D.
Democrat, District 12, Baltimore County & Howard County
ANTONIO L. HAYES
Democrat, District 40, Baltimore City
BONNIE L. CULLISON
Democrat, District 19, Montgomery County
EREK L. BARRON
Democrat, District 24, Prince George's County
ANGELA M. ANGEL, Esq.
Democrat, District 25, Prince George's County
The Speaker (By Request - Office of the Attorney General) and Delegates Bromwell, Anderson, Atterbeary, Barkley, B. Barnes, D. Barnes, Barron, Barve, Beidle, Brooks, Carr, Chang, Clippinger, Conaway, Cullison, Davis, Dumais, Ebersole, Fennell, Fraser-Hidalgo, Frick, Frush, Gaines, Gilchrist, Glenn, Gutierrez, Hayes, Haynes, Healey, Hettleman, Hill, Hixson, Holmes, C. Howard, Jackson, Jalisi, Jameson, Jones, Kelly, Knotts, Krimm, Lafferty, Lam, R. Lewis, Lierman, Lisanti, Luedtke, McCray, McIntosh, A. Miller, Moon, Morales, Oaks, Patterson, Pena-Melnyk, Platt, Proctor, Queen, Reznik, Robinson, Rosenberg, Sample-Hughes, Sanchez, Sophocleus, Stein, Sydnor, Tarlau, Turner, Valderrama, Vallario, Waldstreicher, Walker, A. Washington, M. Washington, C. Wilson, K. Young, P. Young, Pendergrass, Angel, Kipke, McDonough, Metzgar, Miele, Saab, West, Aumann, Carey, Mautz, and S. Howard
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