White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost

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[Time to raise hell.  Your reps need to hear from you.  Find their contact info below.  Take 15 min. to do this.  Everyone needs to help in these situations.  Are drugs not expensive enough? I was on a drug twice this year that cost $142 a day -- yes, A DAY.  It amazed me when it took a mere letter for the insurance company to pay for it.  I felt guilty though using up this much in resources. Bottom line, the drug should never have been that expensive.  This White House deal only reinforces keeping drug prices falsely elevated

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html

THE NEW YORK TIMES August 6, 2009White House Affirms Deal on Drug CostBy DAVID D. KIRKPATRICKWASHINGTON - Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials onWednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a

behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract costsavings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.Drug industry lobbyists reacted with alarm this week to a House health careoverhaul measure that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices

and demand additional rebates from drug manufacturers.In response, the industry successfully demanded that the White Houseexplicitly acknowledge for the first time that it had committed to protectdrug makers from bearing further costs in the overhaul. The Obama

administration had never spelled out the details of the agreement. " We were assured: 'We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first,you will have a rock-solid deal,' " Tauzin, the former Republican

House member from Louisiana who now leads the pharmaceutical trade group,said Wednesday. " Who is ever going to go into a deal with the White Houseagain if they don't keep their word? You are just going to duke it out

instead. " A deputy White House chief of staff, Jim Messina, confirmed Mr. Tauzin'saccount of the deal in an e-mail message on Wednesday night. " The president encouraged this approach, " Mr. Messina wrote. " He wanted to

bring all the parties to the table to discuss health insurance reform. " The new attention to the agreement could prove embarrassing to the WhiteHouse, which has sought to keep lobbyists at a distance, including by

refusing to hire them to work in the administration.The White House commitment to the deal with the drug industry may also irksome of the administration's Congressional allies who have an eye on drugcompanies' profits as they search for ways to pay for the $1 trillion cost

of the health legislation.But failing to publicly confirm Mr. Tauzin's descriptions of the deal riskedalienating a powerful industry ally currently helping to bankroll millionsin television commercials in favor of Mr. Obama's reforms.

The pressure from Mr. Tauzin to affirm the deal offers a window on thesecretive and potentially risky game the Obama administration has played asit tries to line up support from industry groups typically hostile to

government health care initiatives, even as their lobbyists pushed toinfluence the health measure for their benefit.In an interview on Wednesday, Representative M. Grijalva, the ArizonaDemocrat who is co-chairman of the House progressive caucus, called Mr.

Tauzin's comments " disturbing. " " We have all been focused on the debate in Congress, but perhaps the dealhas already been cut, " Mr. Grijalva said. " That would put us in theuntenable position of trying to scuttle it. "

He added: " It is a pivotal issue not just about health care. Are industrygroups going to be the ones at the table who get the first big piece of thepie and we just fight over the crust? " The Obama administration has hailed its agreements with health care groups

as evidence of broad support for the overhaul among industry " stakeholders, " including doctors, hospitals and insurers as well as drug companies.But as the debate has heated up over the last two weeks, Mr. Obama and

Congressional Democrats have signaled that they value some of its industryenemies-turned-friends more than others. Drug makers have been elevated to aseat of honor at the negotiating table, while insurers have been pushed

away. " To their credit, the pharmaceutical companies have already agreed to put up$80 billion " in pledged cost reductions, Mr. Obama reminded his listeners ata recent town-hall-style meeting in Bristol, Va. But the health insurance

companies " need to be held accountable, " he said. " We have a system that works well for the insurance industry, but it doesn'talways work for its customers, " he added, repeating a new refrain.

Administration officials and Democratic lawmakers say the growing divergencein tone toward the two groups reflects a combination of policy prioritiesand political calculus.With polls showing that public doubts about the overhaul are mounting,

Democrats are pointedly reminding voters what they may not like about theirexisting health coverage to help convince skeptics that they have somethingto gain. " You don't need a poll to tell you that people are paying more and more out

of pocket and, if they have some serious illness, more than they canafford, " said Axelrod, Mr. Obama's senior adviser.The insurers, however, have also stopped short of the drug makers in their

willingness to cut a firm deal. The health insurers shook hands with Mr.Obama at the White House in March over their own package of concessions,including ending the exclusion of coverage for pre-existing ailments.

But unlike the drug companies, the insurers have not pledged specific costcuts. And insurers have also steadfastly vowed to block Mr. Obama's proposedgovernment-sponsored insurance plan - the biggest sticking point in the

Congressional negotiations.The drug industry trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturersof America, also opposes a public insurance plan. But its lobbyistsacknowledge privately that they have no intention of fighting it, in part

because their agreement with the White House provides them other safeguards.Mr. Tauzin said the administration had approached him to negotiate. " Theywanted a big player to come in and set the bar for everybody else, " he said.

He said the White House had directed him to negotiate with Senator MaxBaucus, the business-friendly Montana Democrat who leads the Senate FinanceCommittee.Mr. Tauzin said the White House had tracked the negotiations throughout,

assenting to decisions to move away from ideas like the governmentnegotiation of prices or the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada. The$80 billion in savings would be over a 10-year period. " 80 billion is the

max, no more or less, " he said. " Adding other stuff changes the deal. " After reaching an agreement with Mr. Baucus, Mr. Tauzin said, he met twiceat the White House with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff; Mr.

Messina, his deputy; and -Ann DeParle, the aide overseeing the healthcare overhaul, to confirm the administration's support for the terms. " They blessed the deal, " Mr. Tauzin said. Speaker Pelosi said the

House was not bound by any industry deals with the Senate or the WhiteHouse.But, Mr. Tauzin said, " as far we are concerned, that is a done deal. " Hesaid, " It's up to the White House and Senator Baucus to follow through. "

As for the administration's recent break with the insurance industry, Mr.Tauzin said, " The insurers never made any deal. " Sheryl Gay Stolberg contributed reporting.