The White House on Monday hailed what it described as a “historic agreement to lower drugs costs” for older Americans, but it was not immediately clear how much the government would reap in savings that could be used to pay for coverage of the uninsured.
As part of the agreement, pharmaceutical companies promised to help narrow a gap in Medicare coverage of prescription drugs that is known as the doughnut hole.
As Mr. Obama described the gap, “Medicare covers up to $2,700 in yearly prescription costs and then stops, and the coverage starts back up when the costs exceed $6,100.”
Drug companies said they would give most beneficiaries a 50 percent discount on brand-name medicines bought when they hit the gap in coverage.
This could be a boon to Medicare beneficiaries, and AARP praised the deal. But drug company lobbyists and Senate aides said that none of these savings would accrue to the government, which has no liability for a patient’s drug costs in the coverage gap. Indeed, that is the problem for beneficiaries: they are responsible for the entire cost of drugs in the gap.
Charles A. Butler, a pharmaceutical analyst at Barclays Capital, the investment bank, said the drug industry was offering an olive branch to Congress and the White House, in contrast to its “vociferous disagreement” with President Bill Clinton’s proposals in 1993-94.
In an interview, Mr. Butler said he did not think the latest concessions would have “a material adverse impact” on drug company earnings. “Because of the discounts,” he said, “Medicare beneficiaries are likely to continue filling prescriptions in the doughnut hole, whereas in the past many stopped taking their medications because the drugs were unaffordable to them.”
Congress and the White House are frantically seeking ways to help pay for legislation securing coverage for all Americans. The cost of the bill could top $1 trillion over 10 years.
The lobby for drug companies, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, said it had pledged $80 billion over 10 years to help “reform our troubled health care system.” The commitment came in a deal with the White House and Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee.
Mr. Obama described the agreement as a “significant breakthrough on the road to health care reform.”
But Senate aides and drug company lobbyists said the $80 billion reflected total projected savings to the health care system and included unspecified future concessions, besides the drug discounts in the coverage gap.
Some of the $80 billion reflects savings to the government. Some reflects savings to older Americans. But all the savings from closing the doughnut hole would go to beneficiaries, not the government, Senate aides said.
Reid H. Cherlin, a White House spokesman, said: “Of the $80 billion, we estimate that $30 billion could be used for the doughnut hole and passed on to seniors. The other $50 billion could go to health care reform, but these savings have not been identified at the moment.”
The House bill would go further. It would gradually eliminate the coverage gap and require drug companies to pay rebates to the government on drugs for low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the drug manufacturers group, said the industry’s $80 billion commitment would include “significant scorable savings to the government,” though details were not available.
Steven D. Findlay, a health policy analyst at Consumers Union, said: “It’s great that PhRMA has stepped up to the plate with a proposal to help lower seniors’ drug costs. But this still leaves the doughnut hole in place and hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of seniors on the hook for drug costs they cannot afford. We hope Congress will eventually do away with the doughnut hole.”
Congressional reaction suggested that the industry’s voluntary price concessions had whetted the appetite of lawmakers for broader, deeper discounts.
Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, said the $80 billion commitment amounted to “a modest percentage” of national spending on prescription drugs. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that drug spending will total $3.3 trillion over 10 years.
Even as Mr. Obama welcomed the new agreement, drug companies opposed another significant part of his agenda: a proposal that would prohibit brand-name drug companies from paying generic drug makers to delay the marketing of generic products, which often cost much less.
In his budget, Mr. Obama said such “anticompetitive agreements” kept generic drugs off the market. Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said these deals would cost consumers tens of billions of dollars in the next decade.
A House subcommittee has approved a bill to ban such “pay-for-delay settlements.” A Senate committee is poised to approve a similar bill this week.
Mr. Leibowitz said, “Drug companies are lobbying furiously against the legislation because they want to preserve their monopoly profits at the expense of consumers.”
But Diane E. Bieri, executive vice president of the drug manufacturers association, said the settlements sometimes benefited consumers because they avoided litigation and allowed generic drugs to enter the market before drug patents expired.
Tags: drug manufacturers group, drug prices, federal saving, older americans, us
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]… …
with other b vitamins sources can make…
obvious hair growth in most patient who are bald. this was proven by experiments conducted by a doctor to his balding patients. since males are always prone to baldness compared to females, higher intake of inositol is recommended for males.zinc -…
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Recommended websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Hey…
Outstanding post, I believe people should acquire a lot from this weblog its real user friendly. So much good info on here :D….
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
especially when dealing with a facelift or…
similar procedure that would be potentially jeopardized. the damage that cigarette smoking has reaped is permanent; however, we can minimize the extraordinary risks of combining surgery and smoking by unabashedly insisting on restraint.there can be no …
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Visitor suggestions…
[...] we stumbled on a cool site that you may possibly love. Take a look if you want [...]…
Sites we love……
[...] Are you clearly convinced that is going to be right information? I observed something more productive. I’ve basically had another theory that pop into my mind [...]…
greenpeace calendar 2009 pictures…
[...]contact and keys on the main door which you can leave[...]…
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
You should check this out……
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]………
also, at a very low price -…
the disadvantage is that the effects last only 3-4 days, so an injection twice a week might be called for. real progesterone has all the benefits of progesterone, instead of only some of them as with progestins. most doctors who give…
Awesome website……
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]………
Related Blogs…..
[...] further down you’ll discover the link for some sites that many of us think you must check out [...]…
Trackback…
[...] I discovered this good material on this very nice blog [...] …
bait design and formulation that the homemade…
bait maker can exploit!there is among others a very significant reason why carp readily filtration feed upon algae in winter and not on readymade boilies or pellets the majority of the time. algae contain factors which thin the blood, and which…
Looking around……
[...] kindly visit the sites we read, including this one, as it represents our picks right from the internet [...]…
avoid all those issues. it is easy…
but will surely take some of your time. remember, this is time well spent and in most cases you will save money and troubles.there are a few important steps when creating a christmas shopping plan.1. setting a budget.christmas holidays is one…
Visitor suggestions…
[...] listed are some links to sites that most of us link to because we feel they are really worth visiting [...]…
through lots of trial and error yourself.don’t…
worry, i guarantee that your first time will be a disaster. but as long as you persist in your efforts, as long as you get more and more practice, you will get better and better results. with more experience under your…
you to notify someone at their personal…
email address. if ericson was honestly trying to give away computers, don’t you think they would be able to set up ”computergiveaway@sonyericson.com?” in fact their own web site warns customers of the e-mail hoax.4. check the company websi…
Having problem with frontal hair loss?…
Discover proven and effective frontal hair loss treatment that works now!…
have higher refresh rates and their plasma…
counterparts.the next debate surrounds the durability of plasma tvs. when plasma televisions were first released, the screen would go bad after 4-5 years. today, they have just as long of life as the lcd models, but like all reputations, they are…
Blogs you should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
difference arise from the way in which…
the image is illuminated and this is what sets led tvs apart. leds behind the image light up the screen instead of the fluorescent tubes found in lcd tvs, the leds are much smaller and the technology allows many tvs to…
Websites to check…
[...] The information talked about inside the post are some of the most effective in existence [...]…
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
also offer bonuses at the end of…
the year if you accumulate a certain number of points during the year. use coupons on sales items. whenever possible, plan to use high value coupons for items when the items are on sale, especially if the store double or triple…
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Recommended websites…
[...] Did you ever think of where to go to for a weekend and finally end up heading nowhere but hoping you would have [...]…
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
will smith scientology video…
[...]gentle Lennox right after he heard 3 different and totally different statements from three [...]…
Related Blogs…..
[...] definitely a huge fan of backlinking to blog writers that I adore yet aren’t getting lots of link love coming from [...]…
Check These Out…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]…
Visitor recommendations…
[...] we came upon an outstanding site that you might enjoy. Have a look if you want [...]…
some people compare it to old socks….
to get around this, you may want to take this herb as a pill. or try it mixed with lemon balm, another calming herb with a pleasant lemony fragrance and taste.it’s best taken right before bedtime. it works right away for…
UK’s leading SEO Company …
Offering a complete range of SEO services to match your budget….
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
greenpeace internship interview…
[...]world employing the Swedish Middle Institute connected with Gymnastics. Swedish therapeutic therapeutic massage has remained [...]…
Recommended websites…
[...] Actually ever think about where to go to for a weekend and wind up going nowhere but thinking you’d [...]…
their health and well-being. smokers who rationalize…
their habit by way of the “everyone else is doing it” or “they made me” method seek to normalize smoking and give themselves a false sense of comfort that what they are doing isn’t all that bad, when in reality it…
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
because of preventable mistakes that some charter…
boats won’t tell you to avoid before signing you up. i can tell you right now there are five mistakes that if every deep sea fishing vacationer knew about before they signed up for a charter yacht fishing trip, they would…