Aug 21 2009
Obama Cuts A Back Room Deal With Big Pharm & the Hospitals
Greg Palast, Investigative Journalist
According to radio show “Air America” Obama held secret meetings with the Pharmaceutical and hospital lobbyists. Award winning journalist Greg Palast wrote that “On June 22, President Obama said he’d reached agreement with big drug companies to cut the price of medicine by $80 billion. He extended his gratitude to Big Pharma for the deal that would, “reduce the punishing inflation in health care costs…In other words, Obama’s big deal with Big Pharma saves $80 billion out of a total $3.6 trillion. That’s 2% cost reduction.“
That was in June. Now, American Hospital Association lobbyist, Chip Kahn, has secured another back room deal with Obama: “Hospitals will be allowed to hike their prices and revenues by six trillion dollars ($5,853 billion) over the next ten years, only $155 billion less than they had projected before the Obama “reform.” (or 0.5% cost reduction over the next decade.)
Mr.Palast says “The Veterans Administration is able to push down the price it pays for patent medicine by 40% through bargaining power. George Bush stopped Medicare from bargaining for similar discounts, an insane ban that Obama said he’d overturn. But, once within Tauzin’s hypnotic gaze, Obama agreed to lock in Bush’s crazy and costly no-bargaining ban for the next decade.”
In all, the Obama back-room deal will “reduce” our $26 trillion total hospital bill over the next decade by one-half of one percent (0.5%). What’s the trade? Your guess is as good as mine.
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