NOTE FROM JOHN: Remember, you're paying 3x to 5x as much for the same drug, sold by the same company, as people in Europe, Canada, and pretty much the rest of the world. Why? Because our govt. doesn't protect you from the drug companies like every other govt does. Because of bs like Joe is reporting below.
The Hill takes a look at the deal Rahm Emanuel cut with the drug industry. It's one of the most controversial aspects of the reform bill moving through Congress:
In the deal crafted by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and approved by Emanuel, drug companies agreed not to oppose healthcare reform and even help pay for it. The industry agreed to cut the cost of brand-name prescription drugs for seniors by $80 billion over 10 years, covering about half of those seniors who fall into the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole.”A number of Senate Democrats, led by Byron Dorgan (ND), are trying to fix this mess. They know this deal undermined Democratic policy. But, you know a deal for a big business is a bad deal when a Republican member of Congress is ready to trash it:
In return, Baucus and White House officials said they would support a reform package that would not include the drug importation measure nor the measure to allow the government to negotiate drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries, according to a report in The New York Times.
When the House defied a veto threat from President George W. Bush and passed the re-importation bill in 2003, Emanuel and other proponents of the legislation congratulated each other on the House floor.Yes, Pharma got off very easy. Rahm got rolled. He's supposed to be so tough and smart and savvy. But, he only seems to use his vaunted powers against liberal groups trying to get real reform. Rahm's powers are apparently useless against everybody else.
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), who was among those who worked with Emanuel on that bill, said she does not understand why her former colleague agreed to the deal.
“PhRMA got off easy,” she said.
