S-0848.1          _______________________________________________

                            SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8007

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By Senators West, Moore, Amondson, Conner, Johnson, Newhouse, Nelson, L. Kreidler, Rasmussen, Niemi and Wojahn.

Read first time February 1, 1991.  Referred to Committee on Health & Long‑Term Care.Requesting a review of multitiered pricing for prescription drugs.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

     WHEREAS, United States consumers pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs; and

     WHEREAS, Under the federal Robinson-Patman Act (49 Stat. 1526; 15 U.S.C. Sec. 13), manufacturers are required to make the same prices and promotional allowances available to all customers within the same class of trade; and

     WHEREAS, Multitiered pricing is the legal term used to describe the practice of offering special prices to different "classes of trade" thereby basing the price on WHO you are rather than HOW MUCH you buy; and

     WHEREAS, Multitiered pricing practices lead to increases in health care costs; and

     WHEREAS, Multitiered pricing practices improperly burdens one segment of pharmacy in relationship to other segments that are basically in the same class of trade; and

     WHEREAS, With the retail level pharmacists dispensing two out of every three prescriptions in this country, and retail pharmacy identified as the top tier in the cost of prescription drugs, multitiered pricing practices have a profound effect on the cost of health care, especially for the elderly retired individual on fixed income;

     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Congress of the United States take this Memorial into account in reviewing proposed solutions to controlling the medication component of increasing health care costs; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this memorial be immediately transmitted to the Department of Legislative Reference for distribution to the chairperson of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, the chairpersons of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, House Subcommittee on Economic and Commercial Law, and House Subcommittee on Health, and any other appropriate committee or committees of the United States House or Senate; and

     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.