Remember When Democrats Promised to “Fix” Medicare Part D? Marion Berry (D-AR) Does

[slipslidingaway]

That was when the Democrats were out of power.

:(

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/15/remember-when-democrats-promised-to-“fix”-medicare-part-d-marion-berry-d-ar-does/

"...Marion Berry (D-AR) is unlikely vote for the Senate health care bill in the House, but he has recently submitted is own, less comprehensive health care bill (PDF). Primarily, what it does is fix the problems with the Medicare Part D program created by former Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin, which Democrats have been promising to fix for years. That is until President Obama promised now PhRMA lobbyist Billy Tauzin to not fix Medicare Part D as part of health care reform...

The biggest thing the bill does is fix the two most glaring problems with Medicare Part D that Democrats have been demagoging for years. It would allow for drug re-importation and direct Medicare drug price negotiation..."

[mdmc]

1. they will fix it

after nafta, dadt, wmd intel, and the patriot act.. once these get fixed, hcr will get fixed..

[slipslidingaway]

9. OK, guess it is best to be patient ...

:sarcasm:

[BeFree]

18. well

You either are patient or you become a patient.

Wait Management ^TM is an important part of good living.

[slipslidingaway]

21. Since it is almost spring ...

I'm moving to the Weight Management.

:)

[ShortnFiery]

2. Also note that if/when the GOP takes Congress again, they'll blow up the Filibuster rule.

Then they can better work toward being a permanent majority.

Well, perhaps they won't have to go that far, our "leadership" has a history of being too pansy-ass to filibuster. :(

We need NEW BLOOD - NEW LEADERS in Congress.

[slipslidingaway]

12. Also some Dems were talking about changing the filibuster rule...

we'll see.

[WI_DEM]

3. Yes, lets just not do anything and wait another 20, 40, 60 years to try again.

[Greyhound]

4. False premise.

Typical fear-mongering, just like the Wall Street loot-fest.

[frylock]

11. the smoking gun could come in the form of a mushroom cloud

[Ignis]

17. ...With a hearty helping of false dichotomy sauce. (nt)

[Hannah Bell]

5. no, let's put it more corporate perks & wait another 20, 40, 60 years...

[Oregone]

7. The sky is falling, the sky is falling

There is no time for rational intelligent debate. Pass this piece of shit now!

[slipslidingaway]

13. Tell me who wants to do nothing? n/t

[Greyhound]

6. K&R #5

(for now)

[slipslidingaway]

14. Thanks, this at a time when boomers are ready to enroll in Medicare...

and when there is talk of entitlement spending being too high.

[Greyhound]

15. Oh yes, they are coming for you/us, never doubt it. The enablers here just make me ill.

They already got the tail end of the "greatest generation" (dropping dead in minimum wage jobs in their 70's & 80's cause their pensions were looted) and their kids are on the chopping block now.

But what the hell, we created more billionaires than anybody else, so it was all worth it.

[slipslidingaway]

20. No doubt in my mind, if they really wanted to help Medicare then they

would have pushed for Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

[CTyankee]

22. "billionaires." So true. Something I hear from young working class guys

is that they don't need social programs, they've got a shot at becoming a billionaire so the system is just fine. That's why they are Republicans or Libertarians. They are convinced of this fantasy. I wonder what they will think on the day they wake up and they are 50 years old, still grinding away and getting worse off every year, probably having developed a beer belly and at risk for diabetes and heart disease and have no decent health care. Sad...

[napi21]

8. It eliminates the doughnut hole. I just heard the Representative from

Florida (Can't remember her name but she's an attractive blond Dem. who recently survived breast cancer). She was on MSNBC revieweing what fixes are in the bill and slamming the Pubs for claiming that the vote they're going to take in the House isn't really a vote and has never been done before. Of course the Pubs are lying AGAIN and the procedure has been used in te past by both parties.

[slipslidingaway]

16. The Obama HC plan talked of saving 30 billion annually, quite a bit more...

than the amount talked about to close the doughnut hole.

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

Page 5

"Allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices.

The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act bans the government from negotiating down the prices of prescription drugs, even though the Department of Veterans Affairs’ negotiation of prescription drug prices with drug companies has garnered significant savings for taxpayers.32 Barack Obama and Joe Biden will repeal the ban on direct negotiation with drug companies and use the resulting savings, which could be as high as $30 billion,33 to further invest in improving health care coverage and quality..."

[Juche]

10. this health care bill does attempt to fix it

It attempts to close the donut hole.

It does not have medicare negotiations or reimportation. Those reforms were actually blocked to avoid pissing off Pharma.

[slipslidingaway]

19. This is what they want everyone to pay attention to instead of the broken

promises.

:shrug:

From a speech just before the election - "Enough is Enough..."

"And we are tired of watching as year after year, candidates offer up detailed health care plans with great fanfare and promise only to see them crushed under the weight of Washington politics and drug and insurance lobbying once the campaign is over.

That is not who we are, that is not who we have to be, enough is enough, it time for us to change."

Newport News - October 2008

[Juche]

24. I know he broke his promises

He ran ads railing against Billy Tauzin and Pharma, then when he gets in teh white house he invites him over a half dozen times. And things like the public option, medicare negotiations and reimportation are blocked because they piss of hospitals, insurance companies and pharma.

Obama is going to have a lot of explaining to do when he runs for reelection. But that doesn't change the fact that this bill is better than doing nothing. Nor does it change the fact that this bill is not the final word in health reform. Even when this bill passes people are still going to work on medicare buy ins, single payer on the state level, new reforms, etc.

[slipslidingaway]

25. We always hear better than nothing, I do not know anyone who

thinks that nothing should be done.

Why did we take back the WH, the House and Senate to enact an individual mandate to buy a private product?

:(

[ProSense]

23. The bill completely closes the donut hole

Completely closes donut hole. Replaces $500 increase threshold increase limit with a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010. Closes donut hole by phasing down the coinsurance so it is the standard 25% by 2020 throughout the coverage gap.

link

[slipslidingaway]

26. Savings as high as 30 billion per year, a bit more than the donut hole

being discussed now.

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

Page 5

"Allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices.

The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act bans the government from negotiating down the prices of prescription drugs, even though the Department of Veterans Affairs’ negotiation of prescription drug prices with drug companies has garnered significant savings for taxpayers.32 Barack Obama and Joe Biden will repeal the ban on direct negotiation with drug companies and use the resulting savings, which could be as high as $30 billion,33 to further invest in improving health care coverage and quality..."



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=423213&mesg_id=423213

August 21, 2009

Obama's PhRMA deal

"Smith: Obama's strategy was to vilify the drug companies and then cut deals with them in secret..."


SMOLENSKAIA: In his 2008 campaign ads, Obama denounced Billy Tauzin, head of PhRMA, for blocking Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices. Tauzin, one of cofounders of the House Blue Dogs coalition, crossed over to the Republican side in '95.


BARACK OBAMA, US PRESIDENT: The pharmaceutical industry wrote into the prescription drug plan that Medicare could not negotiate with drug companies. And you know what? The chairman of the committee, who pushed the law through, went to work for the pharmaceutical industry, making $2 million a year.


SMOLENSKAIA: In their last week's article, Los Angeles Times reports that Tauzin said he carefully negotiated his agreements with the White House, offering the $80 billion discount program in return for assurances that there would be no government price-setting in Medicare Part D, Medicare prescription drug coverage for seniors.


SMITH: They talk about they're going to hold costs down, maybe they're going to shave off a few billion dollars here over the next ten years and a billion dollars there. But that's a drop in the bucket in comparison to what they will gain by having a purchase-insurance mandate that would make every American citizen purchase coverage that would allow them to buy the drugs that big pharma will not be required to negotiate any bulk pricing for or any lower pricing for anyone. So it's a huge windfall for them that if health-care reform passes. With all of us purchasing coverage through private insurance and bringing those dollars in to buy pharmaceuticals, it's a huge, huge benefit to them.


SMOLENSKAIA: According to Los Angeles Times, Tauzin also said the industry asked the administration not to allow the import of cheaper drugs, because of safety concerns..."

[HillbillyBob]

27. REimportation of drugs , ones that were made here.

Frankly I don't see how these folks could say that with a straight face. Since you see all those drug adds(we should end that too!) that rattle off a list of things that could go wrong.

I am a long term hiv/aids patient and in the 2%..the 2% that has serious bad reactions some times requiring a trip to the ER.
Fortunately I and my partner have enough experience and have bee kit and benedryl on hand and can direct the staff in the ER what to do and to be stern enough to make them listen.

We deserve so much better from our government, and the pharmas that make so much profit off our our misery

[slipslidingaway]

29. So true about deserving better from our government, it is maddening

to watch them go back on promises once they have gained office.

And how do all these other governments provide lower cost drugs, doubt they have those pesky commercials.

:)

[ProSense]

28. This comment makes no sense.

The overall savings including the deal is well above $100 billion.

[slipslidingaway]

30. So that is 100 billion per year??? The Obama plan called for 300 billion

if you look over a decade, somehow I doubt the deal is 100 billion a year, so it must work out to 10 billion a year.

A third of the original plan.

[slipslidingaway]

31. Is that 100 billion per year? n/t