Wait a minute, California drug prices are going up, not down?

Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick

Wait a minute? Aren’t we being told that prescription drug prices are going down thanks to the  attentive leadership in Washington, D.C.? 

Yet, I see Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace for middle-income residents, announced last Tuesday, July 25, that it would increase its premiums by nearly 10% in 2024. It’s the highest increase in five years. 

And why? 

The CEO of Covered California told CalMatters  that the hike is caused by a “complicated time for health care,” given higher drug costs, rising inflation and labor shortages.

So which is it? Are drug prices going up, or down?

(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)