26 September 2009
Focus, Focus, Focus! Politicians Do Not Want Reform. . .
This is why it is so tough to change health care in America: no one who makes money in the present system will support any change. Ka-ching. It seems some senators wanted to revisit the $86 billion "deal" President Obama made with BigPharma to lower the cost of prescription pharmaceuticals to Medicare or to the public-option plan, I forget which. Such a deal. That's like asking BigPharma to take a 10 percent price cut for selling to the largest market it has. I presume that BigPharma decided that what it lost in pricing, it would make up in the increased volume when everyone would be forced to buy medical care insurance. I would conclude that BigPharma knows its game better than the Administration. The very idea that a government-funded program would negotiate the lowest prices available, why that's absurd! Why should taxpayers cheat private industry out of their profits?
You're right it is absurd! Here is an excerpt from FiercePharma, an industry blog today, Tracy Staton wrote:
You'll recall that Democratic senators backed an amendment to require bigger discounts on drugs for low-income folks on Medicare. Early estimates said it would have cost drugmakers $86 billion. Another provision would have closed the medicare doughnut hole, bringing the cost up to more than $100 billion over 10 years. Proponents, including Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen. Bill Nelson, said they weren't party to the $80 billion industry deal.
Opponents voted the measure down for a variety of reasons: Some Democrats said they wanted to stand by the promise made to PhRMA, saying "a deal's a deal." Republicans such as Sen. Charles Grassley called the mandatory rebates "price controls" and said they'd end up raising drug prices for private patients.
We wonder whether any of them thought about the millions and millions of dollars PhRMA has promised to spend on advertising in support of healthcare reform. They were certainly aware of the fact that drugmakers would be angry. Delaware Sen. Thomas Carper (D) said extracting more money from drugmakers would cause a backlash from the industry: "I know I would walk away" from supporting healthcare reform, he said.
Thomas Carper, the senior senator from Delaware, a close friend of Joe Biden, the Vice President whose pledged to carry out an agenda of health care reform, waffles on his support for the Administration's agenda. Someone else, perhaps Senator Dianne Feinstein, must have voted with the Republicans on defeating the Shumer/Nelson Amendment.
What happened to the Democratic Party on the day it clinched its 60-member majority of the Senate that could allow this to happen. What "backlash" could come from the industry, one wonders. We, the American people, are the biggest customer BigPharma has. It is about time that Democrats acted like they control the Senate. Do it, dammit, and then make it work.
Pass legislation that provides a Medicare for All health care system, discontinue Medicaid, and get on with it. Geesh! Between 65 and 70 percent of the voters--who, by the way, elected you to your jobs, say they want a public option. What could be simpler than providing Medicare for All, negotiated prices that Medicare pays for medications as it has always negotiated prices for professional fees and inpatient care, and let the insurance industry adapt to its changed market mix.
Do it, Congress! Do it, Democrats!
What happened to the Democratic Party on the day it clinched its 60-member majority of the Senate that could allow this to happen. What "backlash" could come from the industry, one wonders. We, the American people, are the biggest customer BigPharma has. It is about time that Democrats acted like they control the Senate. Do it, dammit, and then make it work.
Pass legislation that provides a Medicare for All health care system, discontinue Medicaid, and get on with it. Geesh! Between 65 and 70 percent of the voters--who, by the way, elected you to your jobs, say they want a public option. What could be simpler than providing Medicare for All, negotiated prices that Medicare pays for medications as it has always negotiated prices for professional fees and inpatient care, and let the insurance industry adapt to its changed market mix.
Do it, Congress! Do it, Democrats!
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