The drug lobby demands, and gets, Obama pledge to protect health care profits

The Obama White House has acknowledged it made a deal with drug makers to block moves in Congress to obtain any cost savings beyond the $80 billion already agreed to by the pharmaceutical lobby.

The New York Times reported Thursday that, in return for the $80 billion agreement, the Obama administration pledged that it would work to block any health care legislation that would allow the government to negotiate price-setting on drugs.

...Details about the pharmaceuticals’ $80 billion offer have been vague, but they will likely come—not as a handout by the drug industry—but in the form of lower patient co-pays on prescriptions, or as modest discounts on reimbursements to the industry for expanded government-backed medical coverage.

Billy Tauzin, a former Republican congressman and head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) trade group, described how the deal went down...

Tauzin earned his stripes as a heavy for the big pharmaceuticals during a career in Congress before becoming a lobbyist....Tauzin served as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee from 2001 to the beginning of 2004. He played a key role in guiding through Congress the Medicare prescription drug bill known as Medicare Part D, which went into effect on January 1, 2006.

Structured as a privatized plan, the plan bans federal negotiations with drug manufacturers for discounts, forcing Medicare to pay full price for prescription drugs. Tauzin is generally credited with inserting this language into the bill, as well as language barring the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada.

An analysis by the US House Committee on Government Reform found that in its first six months, Medicare Part D generated $8 billion in profits for the pharmaceutical companies. A Kaiser Family Foundation study estimated that Medicare Part D would generate $724 billion in revenues between 2006 and 2015.

Billy Tauzin left Congress on January 3, 2005, and began working that very day for PhRMA, reportedly offered a $2.5 million annual salary to head the leading drug industry lobbying group.

During his presidential campaign, Obama derided the drug companies for charging extortionate prices, and pledged he would let Medicare negotiate for lower prices and would allow importation of cheaper drugs from Canada. His selection now of Billy Tauzin to broker a deal with the pharmaceuticals is not accidental. He knows who he’s dealing with, and the interests Tauzin brings to the table.

Obama’s public affirmation that no further “cost savings” are to be extracted from the drug companies is further confirmation that any health care plan Obama signs will be a cut-rate, class-based system that will ration care for ordinary Americans while leaving the profits of the giant pharmaceutical and other health care industries intact...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/drug-a07.shtml



For the fans who invariably respond with "wsws not legitimate", here's the source:

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: August 5, 2009

WASHINGTON — Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.

Drug industry lobbyists reacted with alarm this week to a House health care overhaul measure that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices and demand additional rebates from drug manufacturers.

In response, the industry successfully demanded that the White House explicitly acknowledge for the first time that it had committed to protect drug makers from bearing further costs in the overhaul. The Obama administration had never spelled out the details of the agreement.

“We were assured: ‘We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal,’ ” Billy Tauzin, the former Republican House member from Louisiana who now leads the pharmaceutical trade group, said Wednesday. “Who is ever going to go into a deal with the White House again if they don’t keep their word? You are just going to duke it out instead.”

A deputy White House chief of staff, Jim Messina, confirmed Mr. Tauzin’s account of the deal in an e-mail message on Wednesday night.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html

K&R

just unrec anything that reflects even slightly negatively on Jesus.

Perhaps some others don't like Hannah for being one of the best voices in support of working people in this forum.

I am not sure that Hannah cares, and she just keeps posting pertinent information, useful in the fight to organize the masses.

All they care about is MAKING MONEY. Hello. People are born and die all the time, a shitload of money only comes along every so often.

is for our President to care about people.

And our Representatives and Senators.

After 45 years of self-identifying as a Democrat I have to ask myself - What the hell for ?

When will some party start representing people?

capitalism is MOTIVATED by GREED.

Capitalism motivates greed.

Without a system which openly rewards greed there would be a lot less of it.

Please have your credit card ready.

Fee charges begin upon setting foot onto American Soil.
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