The supporters
Issue 2 is endorsed by individuals across the state who want to send a message to big pharma that Ohio will not stand for price-gouging. Its supporters include many doctors, politicians, veterans and a nursing union, National Nurses United.
The Yes campaign is almost entirely funded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a California non-profit that bills itself as the largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the U.S. It serves AIDS patients around the globe, including through several pharmacy and clinic locations in Ohio.
AHF’s founder Michael Weinstein has become the face of Issue 2 — both called out by opponents as a greedy “health care CEO,” who makes his money off prescription drugs; and lauded by supporters as a tireless humanitarian who saved the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland from collapse.
So far he’s directed more than $5 million of the organization’s money to support Issue 2.
A $1.3 billion operation, AHF makes about 80 percent of its revenue from selling drugs through its pharmacies. Some see Weinstein’s use of aggressive business tactics to drive revenue as counter-intuitive to a nonprofit mission.
But he says the more money AHF brings in, the more it can offer services including free HIV testing and treatment for the poor.
Weinstein’s salary — he was paid $403,093 in 2015 according to tax filings — is modest when compared to other directors of large non-profits, his supporters say.
“All the dollars earned go back into our mission,” Weinstein said last week on a call with Ohio journalists.
The Yes campaign says passing Issue 2 is the first step toward lowering drug prices for everyone. If state programs like Medicaid, state employee health plans, retiree health plans and prisons demand to pay the lowest price paid by the VA, they estimate the state of Ohio will see $400 million in savings each year.
“That money in our budget would help us do two things. First it would help us fund tax relief, which we didn’t get in this past budget and maybe give more money to schools and local governments,” said Matt Borges, former GOP state party chair and a spokesman for the ballot issue campaign. “And also, it creates a ripple through the marketplace — that the drug companies have identified themselves — that would eventually bring prices down for everyone across Ohio and across the United States.”