GOP: Bush Would Veto Medicare Reforms

[deminks]

http://wcbstv.com/politics/politicsnational_story_011152749.html

AP) WASHINGTON President Bush will veto legislation requiring the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices under Medicare, Republican officials said Thursday.

The House is scheduled to debate and vote Friday on the bill, which is one of a handful of priority items for Democrats who gained control of Congress in last fall's elections.

Republicans said the White House was preparing a formal veto threat against the measure.

The administration has been working with key Republicans in Congress on a response to the legislation. One official said a recent draft of the formal statement was unequivocal in promising a veto.



Herr Diktater needs a veto? How quaint.

[Nickster]

1. Enjoy trying to explain that one in 2008 Goopers! n/t

[tanyev]

2. 6 years, 2 vetoes.

Stem cells and negotiating with drug companies. WTG, numnuts.


Edit--
Oh, sorry. That should be President Numnuts. Gotta respect the office, ya know.

[Nite Owl]

3. Yet another popular move

on his part! Geez is he begging to be impeached?

[kysrsoze]

6. Yeah, I dare that @sshole to do it. That will look REALLY good, won't it?

[bullimiami]

4. they are sharpening their own coffin nails.

its was a lot easier to avoid blame when the republican congress and bushco crafted the hideous legislation together.

the heartless, greedy repubs are going to leave themselves out on a very thin limb if they actively oppose and then block efforts to stop drug profiteering.

[Megahurtz]

5. Slime! n/t

[Vinca]

7. The Republicans really didn't understand the November vote.

Maybe they'll understand a vote in 2008 that creates a supermajority in the Congress and a Democrat in the White House.

[onehandle]

8. Drug companies are their single largest contributors.

They had a HUGE party at the Mayflower in D.C. in Bush's honor a couple of years ago.

The GOP hate poor people. Period.

[Raster]

12. Big pharma not only paid for the "new" Medicare bill, they also wrote it.

Over and over again, the only group benefiting from the bill was big pharma. Since (S)election 2000, the bush* administration has pandered shamelessly to big pharma. There probably is no better example of corporate strip mining and plundering allowed by the bush* administration than big pharma. It was SPECIFICALLY WRITTEN INTO THE BILL forbidding Medicare to negotiate for better drug prices.

[ninkasi]

9. This shows who he works for

Bush certainly doesn't use the office of President to further the good of the people, and this is a blatant indication of where his loyalty lies.
No, let's certainly not give the seniors a break, if it means a few cents loss to the drug manufacturers, how silly. The Republic party is in office to service the lust of big business, not the peasants whose votes they seek when they're up for election.

By all means, let big Pharma, Oil, Weapons industries call the shots, rake in the cash, and leave the rest of us destitute. That means we're not worthy, because we don't have that much wealth to squeeze out in order to give people who have enough money for several lifetimes to amass even more.

How could anybody with a soul be a Republican?

[R_M]

10. And we should be able to hang this noose around the...

GOP's collective neck!

[cascadiance]

11. Which will show he favors fascism over competitive capitalism!

[truthisfreedom]

13. Ya don't screw an aging nation, bozos.

These idiots have no idea what the future holds.

[Sgent]

14. This "reform" is window dressing

Although I somewhat understand the need to "correct" this problem with the drug plan -- this particular reform is meaningless without comprehensive reform of the entire drug plan.

The reason why is:

1) CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services) who will actually perform the negotiations, has no leverage. The drug companies can simply refuse to negotiate, and CMS can do nothing to restrict access to their drugs.
2) The insurance companies -- who actually create the formularies -- do have have the leverage to negotiate (by kicking drugs off of the formulary). Although they are bound by the CMS negotiations on the high side, they can negotiate better deals.

For example:

1) CMS tells Pfizer that we will pay no more than $20.00 / script. Pfizer laughs, and says we won't accept anything less than $80 (assume for sake of the example current retail price is about $40). CMS will be required to accept Pfizer's offer.

2) Humana then tells Pfizer that they will pay $35.00 (although the CMS negotiated price of $80 is an upper limit)-- or substitute a different statin on the formulary. Pfizer decides to take the offer.

In essence, nothing has changed -- although a feel good bill has been passed.

[cap]

15. Just let him...

wait till the anger of the seniors hits in Nov 08.