The PhRMA Deal: The Plot Thickens?*

The media has done a poor job documenting the back-room deals this admin is making with the pharma industry….all after-the-fact.
The elephant in the health care room is tort reform. There is no way the President can reign in costs by ignoring it.
He needs to be honest about ALL of the costs associated with healthcare, and, who is really going to pay for it over the long haul.

The media has done a poor job of investigating the back door shinnagins of Rove and the firing of several employees. Today, it comes out he was very,very involved. What a surprise. No demonstrations on this, I suppose.

Ahem!!
Where is the lie about AARP being on board,too? If he will lie about this then there is NO threshold he won’t cross!!
I love the way the Media picks and chooses the bits and pieces of this debacle they care to report(?)on. Thanks for letting your fellow Americans down.
When are you ALL going to do your jobs? Where are the real journalist today?

No closed door negotiations.
Keep your own doctor.
Keep your own plan.
No waiting lines.
Add 50 million people, end pre-existing conditions and save money.
Lies. All lies.

Anyone notice that the name change?
Health Care Reform is now Health Insurance Reform.
New name……..Same ol’ crap!!
Posted by: American Infidel | Aug 12, 2009 10:01:15 AM
Why not? Global Warming is now Climate Change? More word games.

So no one thinks I’ve gone entirely off the deep end, there was a post I was addressing that implied questioning the veracity of the President was racially based. Sorry about that.

The media has done a poor job of investigating the back door shinnagins of Rove and the firing of several employees.
Posted by: talmag | Aug 12, 2009 9:52:43 AM
The media did a poor job of vetting President Obama during the Presidential campaign.
What was your point again?

Check out the various health care documentaries online. There are some interesting solutions to drug pricing. Drugs are only free to those who can’t afford them, and a regulated co-pay for those who can afford drugs. The government listens to the people. Drug corporations only listen to their stock holders….sort of.

Fine Print: “Croaking” is allowed and encouraged.

The government listens to the people. Drug corporations only listen to their stock holders….sort of.
Posted by: KsDevil | Aug 12, 2009 10:26:32 AM
My 88 year old father gets “free samples” all the time from his docs. Has for years. I’m assuming they are not coming from the government.
(I think he would also like to get in on the free lunches delivered by the cute pharma reps, but I digress.)

“Did I miss anything?”
Yes. Higher taxes.
Posted by: Backwards | Aug 12, 2009 10:35:05 AM
Of course, how could I forget.
Revised Fine Print: Must stay on the plan the rest of your life. Do not miss a payment. Do not change your job. Do not quit your job. Do not retire. Pay all rate raises due to higher costs and fewer consumers since your plan can’t write any more business after bill is signed. Higher taxes. Rationing. Longer and longer delays after your plan cuts employees and services to try to stay afloat. Your plan can never go under or be eliminated by your employer.

Really?
What this really means, is that congress caved to the drug companies, for petty concessions, to allow the companies to continue to earn huge profits.
The public is more than aware, that lawmakers are in that class of the “wealthy and powerful”, who own significant interests in such companies, and whose personal fortunes are tied to ripping off the consumer.
This is just another prime example of the corruption in congress, and the federal government.
It should be obvious, why the public is so opposed.

To say there is no transparancy is not true…anything you need to know you can find on the web. In regards to health care you can check out http://www.white house.gov.reality check. I admit that Obama has not done a good enough job in getting the facts to the general public but there is no one bill. There are five in Congress and some in the Senate and nothing has definitely been voted on. These meeting will be beneficial in telling the administration what America fears so that is a good thing. To go to the meetings just to stop them and shout and not let the people speak is wrong. Too much misinformation out there heralded by talk show hosts, media, etc. Keep an open mind and let the Obama administration know what you do and do not like but let’s not get carried away with swastikas. That has nothing to do with health care…that is all about hate. We don’t need that at this time when we are trying to get a good health care program.

To be sure this backdoor deal was on C-Span like Obama promised.
He’s changing how Washington does business—to Chicago style business.

“What this really means, is that congress caved to the drug companies, for petty concessions, to allow the companies to continue to earn huge profits.”
Merck Research Labs, funded by drug profits, responsible for different treatment drugs you’ve probably taken before. If you haven’t, you’ll probably be glad its there when you need it. Huge profits is not a bad thing in the medical field. Most of the US medical breakthroughs are born from profits and private sector investment. I wouldn’t poo poo them too much. You’ll probably miss it when its gone.

When did our government start a shell game with bills? The congress writes 3 bills and the senate writes a bill. Don’t remember that one in civics class.

“Public option is what most of the people are against.”
Wrong.
Most people are against taxing employer provided health benefits and any cuts to Medicare.
Pew:”Although the public has a more negative than positive general reaction to the health care proposals being debated on Capitol Hill, there is broad support for many of the core elements of the legislation currently before Congress. Nearly two-in-three (65%) favor requiring that all Americans have health insurance, with the government aiding those who cannot afford it. Nearly as many (61%) favor requiring employers who do not provide insurance to pay into a government health care fund. And there is broad support (79%) for prohibiting insurance companies from denying insurance to people with pre-existing conditions.
But reactions to the methods proposed to make sure more people have access to health care coverage are mixed. A thin 52% majority favor a government health insurance plan to compete with private plans. There is broad support (63%), however, for raising the taxes on affluent people to help pay for changes to the health care system. On the other hand, there is equally strong opposition (62%) to new taxes on employees with health insurance benefits above a certain value. Most (58%) also oppose putting tighter restrictions on what medical procedures Medicare and Medicaid will cover.”
Much the same in the recent Q poll
” * 62 – 32 percent in favor of giving people the option of a government insurance plan;
* 61 – 36 percent for higher taxes on high income earners to pay for health care reform;
* 60 – 32 percent in favor of insurance subsidies for individuals making up to $43,000 and families of four making up to $88,000;
* 54 – 38 percent for requiring businesses to provide insurance or pay the government.
Voters oppose 68 – 26 percent requiring people to have health insurance or pay a fine and oppose 68 – 27 percent taxing employees for health care benefits from employers.”

jpt writes:
“Said Gibbs: “Well, I hate to blow our cover … ”
The Obama organization’s cover on the all-but-nonexistent “public option” ALSO has been blown: “The argument that any “public option” is better than none has rarely been articulated, but I suspect we will hear it more often as the reality sinks in that the “public option” in the Democrats’ bill is a joke.”
search up
“Bait and Switch: How the “Public Option” Was Sold”, and
Reply to critics of “Bait and switch: How the ‘public option’ was sold”
both available through Physicians for a National Health Program

So basically, the PhRMA companies are refusing to give us the same price they give consumers in the UK and Canada? Why do we have to pay extra?
Drug research is largely funded in its initial and most expensive stages through government grants.

What about new drugs? Suppose for a moment you were on obama’s plan and you did not want to be a “case study”. What would happen to you then? After all, research and development(experimentation) requires “sacrifice”.

Hey Ryan,
Try catching up a bit, the Pew Poll was from 7/22-7/26.
Most Americans do not believe that the U.S. healthcare system is in a state of crisis.
Liberal want to push that idea, but the public is not buying it.

“I thought public plans were so horrible that we should never even attempt them.”
Because brainiac, once they figure out how to pay for this (taxes), people or companies will end up paying for both. Now they can opt out of paying for a private plan, they can’t opt out of paying taxes.

Ryan,
You are clinging to the crumbs…
++++++++
American voters, by a 55 – 35 percent margin, are more worried that Congress will spend too much money and add to the deficit than it will not act to overhaul the health care system, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. By a similar 57 – 37 percent margin, voters say health care reform should be dropped if it adds “significantly” to the deficit.
By a 72 – 21 percent margin, voters do not believe that President Barack Obama will keep his promise to overhaul the health care system without adding to the deficit, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University national poll finds.
American voters disapprove 52 – 39 percent of the way President Obama is handling health care, down from 46 – 42 percent approval July 1, with 60 – 34 percent disapproval from independent voters. Voters say 59 – 36 percent that Congress should not pass health care reform if only Democratic members support it.
Voters are split 39 – 41 percent on whether the President’s health care plan will improve or hurt the quality of health care in the nation, with 14 percent saying it won’t make a difference.
Only 21 percent of voters say the plan will improve the quality of care they receive, while 36 percent say it will hurt their quality of care and 39 percent say it will make no difference.
“President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress appear to be losing the public relations war over their plan to revamp the nation’s health care system,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“Americans are more willing to scrap a health care overhaul than they are to increase the deficit in order to produce such legislation. That’s a bad omen for the White House and Congressional leadership as they try to sell their plan to the country this month before the vote counting gets serious on Capitol Hill in September.”
There is still strong support for critical elements of the Obama/Democratic plan:
62 – 32 percent in favor of giving people the option of a government insurance plan;
61 – 36 percent for higher taxes on high income earners to pay for health care reform;
60 – 32 percent in favor of insurance subsidies for individuals making up to $43,000 and families of four making up to $88,000;
54 – 38 percent for requiring businesses to provide insurance or pay the government.
Voters oppose 68 – 26 percent requiring people to have health insurance or pay a fine and oppose 68 – 27 percent taxing employees for health care benefits from employers.
Independent voters, perhaps the key voting group, are more worried about the deficit rising than congressional inaction, 54 – 37 percent. These voters say 59 – 36 percent that overhaul should not occur if it would “significantly” increase the deficit. Independents oppose 63 – 33 percent passing a bill with only Democratic votes.
Independent voters also don’t think Obama can keep his promise to avoid increasing the deficit and pass health care by an overwhelming 77 – 17 percent.
“The key to this political battle over health care out in the country is independent voters. And that bloc is the key to most elections,” Brown added. “These are the voters who broke strongly for the President last November and who were in his corner during the first months of his administration. But on these key health care questions they are siding with critics who question whether health care reform is worth the projected cost.”
+++++++++++++++
People want to provide that public option, UNTIL they are confronted with rest of the problem.
Your cherry pickin my friend!!!

Mike C……wait for it, Ryan is checking the Daily KOS and the Huffington Post to counter your arguement, statistical evidence when it opposes his view is always wrong…..
Great post BTW!!!

“Posted by: Mike_C | Aug 12, 2009 3:17:16 PM”
The claim was that people don’t want a public option.
I proved that false and KR’s has backed off it.

A 150 million questions for this administration and their political tactics…

“Posted by: Mike_C | Aug 12, 2009 3:17:16 PM”
The claim was that people don’t want a public option.
I proved that false and KR’s has backed off it.
Posted by: Ryan C | Aug 12, 2009 3:38:29 PM
========================================
Looks like KR did NOT back off.
The fact is, you cannot prove that the vast majority of American’s support a public option because in truth, they do not.
Most American support health care reform, which does not include a government option.
Regulate the Insurance companies, make sure they are not killing Americans with prices or denying care for pre-existing conditions.
The government cannot even run their medicare/medicaid entities properly or efficiently. How many hundreds of million or even billion do tax payers lose out on due to fraud in these two alone?
Now, Tennessee is broke because of government health care, Mass is getting sued by hospitals because they are not paying their bills and their finances in the state are drying up, and Hawaii had to can its Universal Health Care for Children only plan within 7 months of taking off back in Oct. 2008.
Ryan, with all of your infinite wisdom, explain to me why our crooks in washington can run a health care program when they cannot run medicare/medicaid properly, fannie and freddi properly, social security properly, the post office properly, etc..etc..etc…

What the vast majority of people in the US ACTUALLY support is … Single Payer.
==================================
LOL…Good Try…Love it when people make this stuff up.
Let me guess, you have a poll to back that up ??????

After five years, ALL plans have to be government-approved plans.
See page 17 of the House bill.

This is the kind of thing that happens when the president calls private business into his office and makes those really transparent deals. All of the parties seem to acknowledge 80Billion dollar figure, but Obama is now failing to honor the agreement. Obama should never call any private business into his office for secret deals. That is either extortion or a payoff. Either one not too ethical. This is a change from politics to mob tactics.

“No, there is little support for a public option replacing their private insurance, which is what this plan does.”
Better tell the CBO who states 90% of people will remain with private insurance thru 2019.
But I love how right wingers claim people don’t support their gross misrepresentation as if that is somehow revealing.

“This is a change from politics to mob tactics.”
–> Yes He CAN!
In fact, aside from purring borrowed slogans, Obama’s ALWAYS been a one-trick pony, and that’s His trick.

“He wants it to be popular.”
It is popular contrary to the right wing denial of reality.

“It is popular … ”
–> When people figure out that the “public option” (which is likely to be negotiated away at the end) ALREADY has been so truncated as to cover nearly NObody, Obama’s going to be about as “popular” as polio.

“There is no example of socialism that I would want to trade for capitalism.”
When the government and the Fed shovel several TRILLION “public” dollars to mega-corporations and the very rich, that’s not “capitalism”, but corporate f-a-s-c-i-s-m.

“ObamaCare will have panels modeled after Britain’s system, which cuts costs by denying care to the sick and elderly.”
How embarrassing for the right wing Investor’s Business Daily yesterday when they editorialized that Stephen Hawking would have been killed off had he lived in the UK apparently completely unaware that Stephen Hawking is English and has been living in the UK for most of his life and credit the NHS with wonderful care that made his life possible.
“We’re not talking about cutting Medicare benefits.” ~ Obama admitted that this was how his health care scam would be funded. He has proposed $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid to pay for this.”
He has proposed to end $100B in subsidies to private companies from Medicare.

Ryan said: “90% will remain with private insurance until 2019″
Considering this mess won’t go into effect until 2015, that means 10% will be switched over in 4 years..I ask you, how long before 30% are converted? How about 50%? Ryan, do you have children? I do, and I have grandchildren….I don’t want socialized medicine for them either….The government can’t even keep track of Air Force One, how will they execute our healthcare?
Obama has repeatedly made false and quite frankly slanderous remarks about physicians of late. He implied that they are making decisions based on profit OVER the best care for their patients. I am an NP and I know this to be a LIE. He doesn’t know anything about medicine or business so I don’t know how the minority that is still supporting this ridiculous reform is continuing to do so.
The country is flat out turning against it, and against Obama, Pelosi, and the rest of the democratic crooks. Watch 2010. Unless Acorn and the Black Panthers succeed, Obama and the rest of them are OUT.

Bet Noir
Your full of it on Single Payer,
in case you have been asleep overthe past 2 months, the game has changed.
Polls from the begining of the year are meaningless today

My last prescription went up +280% this must be how there cutting 500 billion by adding 500 billion now

“You would prefer all roads be toll roads?”
Roads are paid for by users already in gas taxes, inspection taxes, etc, etc. And I actually love toll roads. They are always in superb condition (at least in Oklahoma), and I only pay for them when I use them.
“How about a fire department that charges you when they come out?”
Police and Fire benefit us all, just like national defense benefits us all, secure borders, etc. Pulbic insurance for 10-15% of the population doesn’t benefit us all. Though you could argue in a round about way it would (lowering cost to the health system), but I don’t think it flies with the intent of the federal government in the constitution.
Either way, the social systems in our country are failing. They are overspent and under performing programs. All of us pay into social security and that money doesn’t generate one dime. My father, who is starting social security next year, paid something like 15 cents a week into the program when was young. The way the system pay in happens, that money didnt generate one penny of interest since then. So the system essentially loses money as it doesn’t even adjust for inflation every year. It’s a constantly deteriorating system that will continually put itself into deeper and deeper debt. Its the same with medicaid. Why don’t we study some of the programs that eastern europe is putting forth with private savings plans for health and retirement that actually generate money over time and are not sucked up into government budgets?

All the President said was we’ll see if we can do better. He is ambitious and hopeful..nothing wrong with that. Pharma has agreed to help close the donut hole. Why are people making such a big deal of this?

“Says Johnson: “in the beginning of this process we made pretty clear the dangers of going above $80 billion; the impact it could have on research and development and the potential job losses in a very fragile economy.”
-I think they meant to say the impact it would have on the advertising budget, since they spend considerably more money pimping there drugs and protecting there patents than on R&D.

healthcare reform is just a way for the Gov. to get more control over the people of the United States. If they are paying for our medical bills then they can say what we can eat and what we can not. recently on the news there was a controversy about the Gov. trying to make it illegal for Obese people to eat fast food. Where is our freedom going? If this passes it will be the decline of our great country as we know it. this is how hitler came to power in Nazi Germany. when Germany was down in the world Hitler came and took over and because the people were blinded by the state in which there country was (just like we are blinded by our economy)hitler came to power and ruined the lives of many people. so if healthcare reforms pass then hail Obama.