It seems like every election year we get two mutually exclusive propositions, or, as I like to call them, MORTAL KOMBAT propositions. They basically do the same thing, and if the voters approve both, the proposition with the most yes votes wins. I think these are pretty sneaky propositions, as it seems more like an either/or choice than the yes/no choice that these sort of things really should be.

On the up side, opportunities like this provide for new and exciting sections in the voter information guide. “Figure 1″ in the analysis by the legislative analyst for both propositions, entitled “Key Differences Between Propositions 78 and 7,” is a comparison chart between 78 — Discounts on Prescription Drugs. Initiative Statute. — and 79 — Prescription Drug Discounts. State-Negoiated Rebates. Initiative Statute. Let’s take a quick spin through it, shall we?

	Prop. 78	Prop. 79
General eligibility requirements	California residents in families with an income at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. (About $29,000 annually for an individual and $58,000 for a family of four.) No such provision.	California residents in families with an income at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level. (About $38,000 annually for an individual and $77,000 for a family of four.) Also, persons in families with medical expenses at or above 5 percent of their family’s income.

So 78 is a little stingier than 79 and doesn’t extend benefits to families with substantial medical expenses. Simple enough.

	Prop. 78	Prop. 79
Persons excluded from coverage	Persons with outpatient prescription drug coverage through Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, a third-party payer, or a health plan or drug discount program supported with state or federal funds (except Medicare beneficiaries). Certain persons with drug coverage, during the three-month period prior to the month the person applied for a drug discount card.	Persons with outpatient prescription drug coverage through Medi-Cal or Healthy Families (except Medicare beneficiaries). No such provision.

So they both have exemptions for people with existing coverage. An extra little proviso from prop 78: if you lose prescription coverage, try not to get sick for three months or so.

	Prop. 78	Prop. 79
Application and renewal fee	$15	$10

78 will run you one Venti Latte per annum more than 79, which probably isn’t that big a deal for families at 300% of the federal poverty level and below.

	Prop. 78	Prop. 79
Method of obtaining rebates from drug makers	Negoiated with drug makers. No such provision.	Negoiated with drug makers. Subject to federal approval, links new drug discount program to Medi-Cal for the purpose of obtaining rebates on drugs.

I don’t understand what in the hell the second point for 79 is talking about. Honestly, it seems like if there’s federal approval required for something drug-related, you might as well assume that it won’t happen. I’d call this one a draw.

	Prop. 78	Prop. 79
Assistance to business and labor organizations	No such provision.	Establishes drug discount program to assist certain business and labor entities.

Prop. 79 works to help out both business and labor. Prop. 78: not so much.

	Prop. 78	Prop. 79
Prescription Drug Advisory Board	No such provision.	Creates a new nine-member panel to review the access to and pricing of drugs.

Prop. 79 believes that this is an important issue, so they’d like some people to watch over it. Prop. 78: not so much.

	Prop. 78	Prop. 79
Lawsuits over drug profiteering law	No such provision.	Changes state law to make it a civil violation for a drug maker to engage in profiteering from the sale of drugs.

Prop. 79 believes that drug makers shouldn’t be allowed to price gouge. Prop. 78: not so much.

So it’s not exactly the most exciting or informative tale of the tape in political history, but it tells us a little something about the motivations behind each proposition and how serious they are about solving the prescription drug problem in California. They’re also good for snarky remarks, and that’s worth it’s weight in recycled voter information guide paper.

As per always, you could probably do better in terms of gathering information for your own personal decision making. These two are big and ugly; just reading them nearly drove me to the bottle. Depending upon what your priorities are — keeping state spending to an absolute minimum, actually making sure the less fortunate can afford the meds they need, etc. — there are a lot of hairy issues to sort out. Our good friends at the League of Women Voters have information for both Prop 78 and Prop 79. Read it for yourself (although I’d recommend keeping a drink handy this time) and make up your own mind.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 7th, 2005 at 11:28 pm and is filed under Election '05. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.