White House - better to close doughnut hole for seniors than to lower drug price for all in imports

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/15/doughnuts-for-...

Ryan Grim
Doughnuts For Dorgan: Drug Reimportation Killed In Deal That Might Get Cheaper Drugs For Seniors

President Obama and the Senate leadership can't whip up the votes necessary to pass a public option or even a Medicare buy-in compromise, but they didn't have any trouble persuading 30 Democrats to vote against prescription drug reimportation Tuesday night --thus preserving the deal cut between the Senate Finance Committee, the White House and Big Pharma.
skip
.....A senate Democratic aide confirmed that the doughnut-hole move was largely made in exchange for votes to kill Dorgan's amendment. "That was more or less the arrangement," he said. (The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

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PLEASE read the full article. It is incredibly illuminating about the stuff going on.

I have seen the doughnut hole valued at 20 Billion in other articles. That is in addition to the 80 Billion (OVER 10 YEARS!) that Pharma "gave up" in "negotiating" with the White House.

Now we have the White House finally using its muscle ( remember how we asked them to do that?) to KILL an amendment that would have provided access to lower costs drugs for EVERY American - seniors included, in order to further kowtow to Pharma.

There you have it. I am so beyond disgust I cannot express it. And it's not just the White House, it is Senators that have been until now, very high up in my regard and esteem list.

[lonestarnot]

1. Through the fucking looking glass.

AGAIN!

[cali]

2. Obama is a LIAR.

[Walk away]

7. Do they realize their base won't forget this?

I simply won't vote 2010 or 2012 unless there is a green candidate to vote for. I will always vote for Dems down ticket but nationally it's over for me.

[wordpix]

16. Change I'm losing faith in - why won't Obama STAND UP for his base?

[AzDar]

3. Speechless.

[Laelth]

4. Good to know exactly what the deal was. Thanks for posting. n/t

-Laelth

[OHdem10]

5. I have some bridges I will sell them. This is not even believable.

[madrchsod]

6. he has no incentive to close the hole

he knows the republicans won`t close it so there`s no political loss for him.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

8. Drug importation as well as Medicare drug negotiation was a hallmark

of the campaign healthcare plan. The one that was wadded up and thrown away the day he stepped over the threshold.

[madokie]

9. I don't trust this site anymore

huffingtonpost, in fact I see them now as I see politico, trash mostly

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

10. There are named sources and quotes in this article.

That's pretty hard to argue with.

[calico1]

11. I think Dodd has sealed his fate.

He is lagging in the polls here. Did he think this would help get him reelected?

Good lord, by the time this is all said and done, I'm not going to have any money left over for a freaking donut!

[wordpix]

17. This is definitely a major issue for me to vote AGAINST DODD

Hoping Blumenthal will jump in.

[calico1]

23. I would like to see Blumenthal run but he isn't

going to challenge Dodd. No Democrat will run unless Dodd drops out. So I am afraid we will end up with the wrestling lady or some other Repub.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

12. kick before I take off.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

13. another kick. I think this is very important. nt

[Vidar]

14. Kick for another betrayal by Obama.

[wordpix]

15. another illuminating article - "subject of colloquy" no doubt explained here

Read the whole article to "get" the FDA letter reference.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20 ...

President Obama writes a new health reform prescription

By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, December 16, 2009

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to take on the drug industry by allowing Americans to import cheaper prescription medicine. "We'll tell the pharmaceutical companies 'thanks, but no, thanks' for the overpriced drugs -- drugs that cost twice as much here as they do in Europe and Canada," he said back then.

On Tuesday, the matter came to the Senate floor -- and President Obama forgot the "no, thanks" part. Siding with the pharmaceutical lobby, the administration successfully fought against the very idea Obama had championed.

"It's got to be a little awkward," said Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.).

It's even more awkward for millions of Americans who are forced to pay up to 10 times the prices Canadians and Europeans pay for identical medication, often produced in the same facilities by the same manufacturers, simply because the U.S. government refuses to rein in drug prices. snip

One after the other, the drug industry's friends from pharmaceutical-manufacturing states New Jersey, Delaware and North Carolina went to the floor Tuesday to cite the FDA letter.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Bristol-Myers Squibb) warned that "you may have a heart attack" because of counterfeit medicine from abroad.

"This is a matter of life or death," agreed Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Merck).

Carper (D-AstraZeneca) cited "remaining safety and soundness and health concerns," while Sen. Kay Hagan (D-GlaxoSmithKline) voiced "serious doubts that we can adequately ensure the safety of the drug supply."

These arguments don't hold up well, considering that 40 percent of the active ingredients in American prescription drugs come from India and China, and that the latter slipped tainted heparin past the FDA. But fright was about the best argument opponents could use to defeat a popular proposal that would save the federal government $19 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Consumers would save many times that. snip

[TwilightGardener]

18. I still think drug re-importation is...weird. And possibly unworkable, at least

for very long--did we ask Canada about it? Doesn't that have to be done through some kind of trade agreement or something? Would we get ALL or MOST drugs from Canada, enough to make an impact on overall prices? Is there an agency that would be in charge of this re-importation, or would it be insurance co's, hospitals, etc. on their own? And would those savings necessarily be passed on to consumers, or just "eaten" by the middlemen? Seems more complex than meets the eye. I want either Obama or Congress to come up with a way for the United States to negotiate prices directly--that's the only thing that would work long-term.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

19. Drug re-importation IS weird and just a bizarre way to get the prices the

rest of the world pays that we could get for ourselves IF our government negotiated the costs of drugs for us like the governments of the rest of the world do. But then, they consider healthcare to be a right and not a privilige.

Most people would probably just buy online from Canadian pharmacies. They probably should charge some kind of tariff or surcharge on American citizens to make up for their time and inconvenience in supplying the drugs for another country that is too lazy and ineffectual to negotiate for their own, but I am sure it could be structured as a win-win.

We are left with re-importation (oops! only we DON'T have it )until our leaders get their heads out of their collective asses and do something for the common as opposed to the corporate good and negotiate/regulate the costs of drugs.

[TwilightGardener]

20. I guess we'd be circumnavigating the FDA, though, and relying

on Canada's version of the FDA. That might be a sticking point, I don't know. I admit I don't know much about the "doughnut hole"--is closing it a good thing, or just a "meh" thing?

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

22. closing the doughnut is a good thing - it just shouldn't have come at the cost of lowering

prices for everyone else. Most people agree the FDA concern is pretty much BS. The worlds supply of drugs all come from a limited amount of manufacturers that supply everyone. As has been pointed out coutless times, there are no Canadians falling over in their streets from taking unsafe drugs. That is just a dodge that the people who don't want you to have cheaper access to drugs try to fear monger you with. This is assuming you buy from a reputable, creditable, source - like Canadian pharmacies who already exist and dispense drugs licensed in America.

[wordpix]

24. +1

[walldude]

21. Funny isn't it.. I just wrote a thread where I mentioned

they grew a spine to attack Dean. All of a sudden they are these tough legislators when it comes to standing up for corporations. I'm with you. Sickening. K&R

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

25. one last kick because this is a big deal to me. nt