This editorial appeared in The Lexington Herald-Leader.
It's not a permanent solution to soaring health care costs, and depending on the pharmaceutical industry's charity is probably dicey.
But Gov. Steve Beshear's initiative to connect Kentuckians with free or reduced-price prescription medications is a sensible, pragmatic approach to a big problem.
Kentucky ranked third in a 2002 study of "drug cost burden," the percentage of income that people spend on prescription medication.
Too many Kentuckians must choose between putting food on the table or keeping the lights on and taking their medicine.
Faced with that choice, people are bound to get sicker and end up missing work and needing costly emergency-room care and hospitalizations.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Lexington Herald-Leader.