California to Flex Drug Purchasing Power

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced plans to expand the state's authority to negotiate prescription drug prices and broaden health coverage for undocumented immigrants, reports the Wall Street Journal . "We will use both our market power and our moral power to demand fairer prices for prescription drugs," he promised in his inaugural address. His executive order directs California's Department of Health Care Services to negotiate prescription drug prices for the 13 million residents using the Medi-Cal program for low-income citizens. It also consolidates existing procurement entities' purchasing power to obtain better prices, giving private employers room to join the new purchasing pool. Newsom added that he would propose expanded coverage in California under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and pressure the federal government to permit his state to migrate to a state-run single-payer health system. Newsom wants to cover illegal immigrants 26 and younger under the Medi-Cal program, and his proposed budget would hike subsidies under the ACA for households that currently receive them, as well as extend subsidy eligibility to people with higher incomes than sanctioned under current law. Among those advocating Newsom's single-payer proposal is Public Citizen's Peter Maybarduk, who notes, "Drug sellers take advantage of fragmented purchasing systems. A single large purchaser should be harder to manipulate."