Duff Wilson, in The New York Times (do go read it all) has a very interesting set of counter-developments laid-out -- countering, by pushing back, still seeking even more ambitious reforms. This should be seen, in some measure, as the progressives' answer to the President's speech of this evening. Here's a snippet, covering House Chairman Waxman's views on the matter:
. . . .For starters, Mr. Waxman wants the drug industry to give up an additional $63 billion over the next decade. That would come by reversing a 2006 policy change that removed millions of low-income elderly from Medicaid drug coverage and had them pay higher prices for the same drugs under Medicare — a move he has called a “windfall for drug companies.”
Billy Tauzin, head of the drug industry’s main trade group, said that his members could not support that change. "What Waxman is trying to do, you not only break the deal, you break the bank for us," said Mr. Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But Mr. Waxman said in an interview Wednesday night: "I know they have a deal with the Senate, and I think they do have a deal with the White House, but I don’t know how pinned down it all is. But they don’t have a deal with us — the House."
Mr. Waxman is also looking for a much tougher bargain with drug makers on another pivotal piece of the cost puzzle — the effort to allow generic competition in so-called biologic drugs, which represent the most expensive and fastest growing part of the market. The drugs, many of them used against cancer, can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. . . .
There is much more in the full NYT article -- do go read it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment