White House Reaffirms Deal With PhRMA
In a move that's unlikely to curry much favor with House progressives, the White House has reaffirmed its commitment to a long-standing deal it made with the pharmaceutical industry, that will require them to cover, through industry reforms, no more than $80 billion worth of what's expected to be the approximately $1 trillion cost of health care reform.
President Obama struck a deal with PhRMA early--a move that the administration says was crucial to build momentum within the health care industry for reform. But House health care leaders and progressives insisted that they were party to no deal, and included in their overhaul legislation provisions that would have put drug makers--a key industry stakeholder--on the hook for more than they agreed to.
The White House's insistence on maintaining this bargain means the House legislation will have to be changed before a floor vote, or during conference committee with the Senate, leading some to wonder why Obama--who's been notably averse to drawing lines in the sand over key progressive goals--is putting himself out there for the insurance company.
"It is a pivotal issue not just about health care," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told the New York Times. "Are industry groups going to be the ones at the table who get the first big piece of the pie and we just fight over the crust?"
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
This would be the Big Pharma that's helping shove tons of money into *defeating* Healthcare Reform?
There are times where it seems the Obama Admin badly misjudges the folks it thinks it can "deal" with.
John
August 6, 2009 9:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know, if you believe that Obama isn't really as committed to progressive principles as you would like or as much as he pretends, that's fine. Or if you believe that he's a sellout, that's ok too. Or if you think he tries too hard for conciliation and bipartisanship at the cost of progress, that's ok too. I may agree or disagree with that premise, but it's a valid opinion to hold.
On the other hand, any argument that's based on the idea that Obama is stupid or naive or can't accurately gauge the true intentions of the people he's working with simply doesn't hold water with me. He wouldn't have beaten both Hillary and McCain and become the first black president if that were true.
August 6, 2009 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Xantar, you forget that Obama was not the architect of his presidential campaign--remember Axelrod and Plouffe? They handled the strategy, the image, the logos, the message--not Obama. He may have agreed and said, okay, I can do that, but Axelrod and Plouffe were the prime movers. However, I agree that Obama is not stupid. In fact, he is truly brilliant. But, he is proving to be timid. He wants to be all things to all people. He doesn't want to be confrontational only defensive. Case in point, health care reform and the insurance companies. He doesn't seem to want to be the leader of the party that won a huge mandate in 2008 (President, Congress, Senate), he's hiding in the oval office and watching his party fragment and run off in every direction. It's time to prove he is the leader we elected or he will become the leader we reject in 2012.
August 6, 2009 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, no. Big Pharma is being pretty acquiescent. Big Insurance, Big Hospital and the Chamber of Commerce/Club for Growth types are where where the money's coming from this time.
August 6, 2009 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Man this is really disturbing. These guys waiste HUNDREDS of billions A YEAR and the MOST you are asking them to is save 80 billion OVER 10 YEARS!? We see who runs the show, what a damn shame. Whoring to keep them on your side.
August 6, 2009 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is a 'bait and switch'...The 'return' comes only when their drug is prescribed..therefore more of their drugs in the marketplace but at a discount- Congress allowed a 'non'negotiable' clause for the USA but you can get most of them in Canada or Mexico for a tenth the cost! Then we have the generics!
THIS IS BS>>>an attempt to derail any regulation of the industry!
The healthcare industry is spending more on lobbying/ads/trips/goodies to defeat the will of the people than this dribble over 10 years!
August 6, 2009 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, brilliant. Right now we've got the insurance companies and the for-profit providers isolated. Big Pharma and the doctors are, however tepidly, on our side--making the right mouth noises in public and sitting it out as far as funding the opposition goes.
So yes, by all means let's ram a big haughty moral purity stick up our behinds and do everything possible to push them over into the "openly and vociferously against" category, because, hey, everything's going just swimmingly right now and we have ample margin for error.
August 6, 2009 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually Pharma is not on the side of the people and this deal should be abandoned. The us population has been subsidizing worldwide drug prices and pharma profits for decades. Let's get some of it back. Think about it. The same drug overseas costs 1/10th of what it costs in the US and throw in medicare part d, corporate welfare for pharma, and they are rolling in dough. Let them get their business model in order and stop raping the us for their profits.
I have actually seen internally how they operate and it is disgusting. Shed some light on the rip-off and people will get behind healthcare reform big time.
August 6, 2009 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Incidentally, I am working from home and listening to msnbc and they are talking about how the "scientific reports" on the "benefits" of various drugs are ghostwritten by the pharma industry. Throw in the payoffs to doctors to prescribe drugs for patients that are not beneficial. It is an outrage and people's lives and well being are at stake. Unbelievable. The FDA has been asleep at the switch for decades.
August 6, 2009 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink