With healthcare reform on its last ropes, it's time for the President to repudiate that odious backroom deal with Big Pharma for Obama to:
- Oppose reimportation
- Oppose rebates in Medicare Part D
- Oppose repeal of non-interference
- Oppose opening Medicare Part B
It's time to end the politicization of the FDA and bring in a sensible drug re-importation policy.
The secret deal was memorialized in a memo that, as confirmed by the Huffington Post:
says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada -- and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.
In exchange, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) agreed to cut $80 billion in projected costs to taxpayers and senior citizens over ten years. Or, as the memo says: "Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion."
The deal was confirmed by Senator Carper (FDL):
In a stunning moment during the Senate Finance Committee markup Sen. Tom Carper defended a secret deal that the White House, Baucus, and PhRMA had reached.
The Obama FDA acted quickly:
Just a day before Wednesday's planned vote, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg sent letters to two senators laying out the administration's view on the amendment. In short, the FDA now thinks that allowing consumers to buy drugs from foreign countries would compromise the safety of the U.S. prescription drug supply, which she called "the safest in the world."
...
The president's change of tune might have something to do with a deal the White House struck in exchange for the pharmaceutical industry's support of the healthcare reform bill. That agreement would limit the industry's financial sacrifice to $80 billion over 10 years.
Now, this was a bad deal for the American people, and even more bitter for seniors. Henry Waxman tried to kill it, but the White House prevailed at that time. However, times have changed since "Chokely". The President is on a populist initiative:
The White House and Congress Democrats are launching a major populist initiative in an effort to lead, rather than suffer from, the anti-Wall Street, anti-establishment mood sweeping the country.
Well, refuting this bad deal and reducing drug costs across the country would be populist.
And, by the way, those two people who presumably cut this deal, Billy Tauzin and Rahm Emanuel? They should be persona non grata at the White House.