A doctor is breaking away from Ohio’s largest medical groups to support a proposed law that would force the state to buy drugs at a lower price.
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs buys drugs with a large discount. A ballot issue this November would force the state to buy drugs at that same low price or not at all.
All of Ohio’s major health care groups including the nurses and medical association are against the idea.
But Robert Ruff, a former director with the VA, says that’s because the health-care industry has become a business operation.
“People are making a lot of money in the health-care business right now, and I think CEOs and people in power in the industry are of the mind that they don’t want that situation to change,” he says.
The group opposing the ballot issue -- including the pharmaceutical industry -- says it would make costs go up for people who don’t get medication through state programs, and it would limit access for those who do.
