jreeves
Senior Member
- Feb 12, 2008
- 6,588
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What is Big Pharm getting to support Obamacare?
Gibbs Won't Say What White House Gave Drugmakers To Gain Their Support
What did the White House offer drugmakers to get their support for health care legislation?
NBC's Chuck Todd put the question directly to Robert Gibbs after the White House spokesman denied that a deal outlined in a memo obtained by the Huffington Post was accurate.
"Stepping back a minute on the PhRMA deal, are we to believe that PhRMA didn't get anything for their agreement on the $80 billion; that they did not get anything in return from the White House, any pledges, promises, winks, nods, whatever? Are we to believe nothing was promised to them?" he asked.
"Well, again, I'm simply -- was responding to what the question was about a memo that I think both sides..." Gibbs responded, before Todd cut him off.
"Forget the memo a minute," Todd said. "Can you answer that -- can you answer that question? Were they -- can you say for sure they were promised nothing in return?"
Gibbs ducked the question. "I can assure you that we've come to an agreement to seek some savings from the pharmaceutical industry as part of comprehensive health care," he said, declining to say what PhRMA was offered in return.
"And at what point are you going to release, then, the facts of the deal with them and with the hospitals and with a couple of these stakeholders that have come here and made these pledges and you guys have..." Todd followed up.
"I think some of this is going to be written into legislation that we'll hopefully see going through Congress relatively soon," said Gibbs.
What better source than the Huffingtonpost for liberals? So why didn't Gibbs answer the question?
Could this be what they agreed to?
Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big Pharma
A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.
The memo, which according to a knowledgeable health care lobbyist was prepared by a person directly involved in the negotiations, lists exactly what the White House gave up, and what it got in return.
It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada -- and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.
In exchange, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) agreed to cut $80 billion in projected costs to taxpayers and senior citizens over ten years. Or, as the memo says: "Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion."
Stories in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times last week indicated that the administration was confirming that such a deal had been made.
Gibbs Won't Say What White House Gave Drugmakers To Gain Their Support
What did the White House offer drugmakers to get their support for health care legislation?
NBC's Chuck Todd put the question directly to Robert Gibbs after the White House spokesman denied that a deal outlined in a memo obtained by the Huffington Post was accurate.
"Stepping back a minute on the PhRMA deal, are we to believe that PhRMA didn't get anything for their agreement on the $80 billion; that they did not get anything in return from the White House, any pledges, promises, winks, nods, whatever? Are we to believe nothing was promised to them?" he asked.
"Well, again, I'm simply -- was responding to what the question was about a memo that I think both sides..." Gibbs responded, before Todd cut him off.
"Forget the memo a minute," Todd said. "Can you answer that -- can you answer that question? Were they -- can you say for sure they were promised nothing in return?"
Gibbs ducked the question. "I can assure you that we've come to an agreement to seek some savings from the pharmaceutical industry as part of comprehensive health care," he said, declining to say what PhRMA was offered in return.
"And at what point are you going to release, then, the facts of the deal with them and with the hospitals and with a couple of these stakeholders that have come here and made these pledges and you guys have..." Todd followed up.
"I think some of this is going to be written into legislation that we'll hopefully see going through Congress relatively soon," said Gibbs.
What better source than the Huffingtonpost for liberals? So why didn't Gibbs answer the question?
Could this be what they agreed to?
Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big Pharma
A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.
The memo, which according to a knowledgeable health care lobbyist was prepared by a person directly involved in the negotiations, lists exactly what the White House gave up, and what it got in return.
It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada -- and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements.
In exchange, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) agreed to cut $80 billion in projected costs to taxpayers and senior citizens over ten years. Or, as the memo says: "Commitment of up to $80 billion, but not more than $80 billion."
Stories in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times last week indicated that the administration was confirming that such a deal had been made.
