Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

[IndianaGreen]

Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

A Senate Democratic leader is hoping to blow up the deal reached between the White House, drug makers and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), by introducing an amendment on the floor to allow prescription drugs to be re-imported from Canada.

It's one of the simplest ways to reduce health care costs but was ruled out by the agreement, which limits Big Pharma's contribution to health care reform to $80 billion over ten years.

North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, a member of Democratic leadership, isn't a party to that bargain. "Senator Dorgan intends to offer an amendment to the health reform bill and his expectation is that it will be one of the first amendments considered," his spokesman Justin Kitsch told HuffPost in an e-mail. "Prescription drug importation is an immediate way to put downward pressure on health care costs. It has bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by groups such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and AARP."

U.S. patients pay far more than the rest of the world for prescription drugs. The Canadian government keeps prices down by using its purchasing power to negotiate for lower rates. Dorgan wants American consumers in on the deal.

A bill to allow re-importation -- S. 1232 - has 30 cosponsors, several Republicans among them, including Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, John Thune (S.D.) and David Vitter (La.).

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in $50 billion in direct savings over the next decade, with $10.6 billion of that being savings to the federal government.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/28/leading-dem-plans-to-blow_n_302235.html

[Crosseyed Jesus]

1. Sounds like....

a Public Option, does it not. Cheers to Max, and to the people that voted him into position.

[Cant trust em]

2. This is exactly what I figured would happen.

Obama struck this deal with Pharma, but Congress wasn't bound by the deal.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Kind of a shrewd strategy

if it was actually planned that way. Obama cuts a deal with Big Pharma to help get them on board with health care reform- or at least placate them so that they won't squeal too loudly about it- and then allow Congress to override the agreement, which keeps Obama's hands clean and allows us to get a better deal in the end for everybody (oh, and Big Pharma ends up getting screwed).

[bvar22]

3. Certainly good news on the Health Care front.

a salute to North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan
:patriot:

[Thrill]

4. Finally something Repukes can agree on

.

[polichick]

5. This will be interesting. k&r

[msongs]

6. whatever happened to fed government will negotiate drug prices via its purchasing power? as in

medicare would do that in order to get better prices. the repubs with dems help threw that out years ago did they not?

Msongs

[Cant trust em]

8. That never moved forward.

As far as I know that crappy law is still on the books.

[slipslidingaway]

12. Negotiating drug prices for Medicare was a large part of the Obama plan...

and we should be asking what happpened, but this thread is being unrecommended.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8674647&mesg_id=8674647

"How Barack Obama has changed!

We recently learned that President Obama has secretly made a sweetheart deal with Billy Tauzin, the former congressman turned chief lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry. In return for $80 billion in projected cuts -- and $150 million in supportive television ads Obama has apparently sworn to protect the industry from congressional efforts to, among other things, let the government use its bargaining power to lower prescription drug costs.

Now flash back to April 2008, when the Obama campaign put out this ad, in which Obama held Tauzin up as an example of everything that was wrong with the game-playing in Washington..."

[KoKo]

9. Well...I'll cross my fingers on this one! Sounds good...

whether it get's through or not is another thing...but at least there's pushback to that "secret deal." Whether it's a "sop" to the Left or real...who knows.

[karynnj]

10. Now I am officially completely confused by Baucus

I thought that was the reason he voted against the Nelson amendment, which recaptured $86 billion from PHARMA by letting the dual Medicaid/Medicare people get the lower Medicaid rate. Now, the government gives them subsidies to make up for the negotiation that put them on the higher Medicare rate schedule - meaning the tax payers pay for the discount PHARMA took away.

[ProSense]

11. That is what people were saying the day of the vote on Nelson's amendment

Republican can't do shit to stop Congressional action to save Americans more on drug costs

And that amendment will be reintroduced on the Senate floor as well.

Reid ‘Guarantees’ Action on Prescription Drug Reimportation Ban

[slipslidingaway]

13. What exactly was on the other side of the deal??? That is the question and...

why some people refer to it as a secret deal.

Previously posted here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8666832&mesg_id=8667598

Did the deal include not pushing for Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices? At first the WH acknowledged this part of the deal and then seemed to back away.

Has negotiating for lower drug prices become a part of the reform bill or is re-importation of drugs part of the bill??? If not why not...was that part of the deal.

Both of those issues were listed in the proposed health care plan and I know there is a separate bill on the re-importation question, but there is no guarantee that it will pass as a stand alone bill.

page 5
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

"...Allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices.

The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug

Improvement and Modernization Act bans the government from negotiating down the prices of
prescription drugs, even though the Department of Veterans Affairs’ negotiation of prescription drug
prices with drug companies has garnered significant savings for taxpayers.32 Barack Obama and Joe
Biden will repeal the ban on direct negotiation with drug companies and use the resulting savings, which
could be as high as $30 billion,33 to further invest in improving health care coverage and quality...


Allow consumers to import safe drugs from other countries.

The second-fastest growing type of health expenses is prescription drugs.29 Pharmaceutical companies should profit when their research and development results in a groundbreaking new drug. But some companies are exploiting Americans by dramatically overcharging U.S. consumers. These companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging Americans a 67 percent premium.30 Barack Obama and Joe Biden will allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe and prices are
lower outside the U.S..."


When you look back at the Obama/Biden Health Care Plan the proposal was to negotiate prices for ALL Medicare recipients, not just dual eligible seniors. The figure mentioned in the Obama/Biden plan references a study and states that this could save up to 30 billion per year, that number was based on VA rates.

What happened to that part of the plan?

[Trillo]

14. This bill says it replaces section 804,

Chapter VIII of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 381 et seq.) is amended by striking section 804.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
(search for S. 1232)

Under the replaced text any importation must come from a "registered exporter".

(2) IMPORTERS- A qualifying drug may not be imported under paragraph (1) unless--

`(A) the drug is imported by a pharmacy, group of pharmacies, or a wholesaler that is a registered importer; or

`(B) the drug is imported by an individual for personal use or for the use of a family member of the individual (not for resale) from a registered exporter.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
(search for S. 1232)

Under Dorgan's bill, to be an exporter:

`(ii) An agreement to post a bond, payable to the Treasury of the United States that is equal in value to the lesser of--

`(I) the value of drugs exported by the exporter to the United States in a typical 4-week period over the course of a year under this section; or

`(II) $1,000,000."
http://thomas.loc.gov/
(search for S. 1232)

For comparison, the old http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Legislation/FederalFoodDrugandCosmeticActFDCAct/FDCActChapterVIIIImportsandExports/ucm107064.htm">804 section.

There doesn't seem to be any similar bond posting requirements in the old 804 section, thus, it seems S. 1232 would decrease the number of outlets willing to export to U.S.-based individuals. Classic supply demand says that raises drug prices for that market.

I guess that kind of disagrees with the overall idea expressed in the main article, "way to put downward pressure on health care costs".
:shrug:

[jeanpalmer]

15. Instead why not find out

what price Canada pays for its drugs and establish that price as the price Pharma can charge American pharmacies. In other words, eliminate the unessential middleman, Canada. That way, "negotiating" drug prices would not occur, and we would save the markup that the Canadian exporter would charge and the transportation cost that would be passed on. Plus instead of exporting jobs to Canada, we'd be saving/creating American jobs. Pharma would get the same price they charge Canada. Seems like a better solution all the way around.

I've solved this problem already. I order almost all prescriptions from Canada.