To understand why the medical-industrial complex backs Obama’s reform, just read the executives’ words. Simply put, health care reform — if it’s the right blend of Obama’s plan and Sen. Ted Kennedy’s plan — will increase profits for health care giants while diminishing competition.
The insurers’ interest here is obvious: Half their business is reducing health care costs. Plus, Kennedy’s plan would mandate everyone maintain health insurance.
The drug makers’ angle was spelled out last month by David Brennan, chief executive officer of AstraZeneca and newly elected chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the No. 2 lobbying organization in the country as measured by first-quarter spending this year.
At PhRMA’s annual conference, Brennan uttered the magic words of a corporate executive looking for a handout and beneficial regulation: “I’m an advocate of free-market-based health care solutions. But within that framework, I support appropriate government efforts to protect people whose health care needs aren’t met by the private marketplace.”
Specifically, PhRMA wants a government mandate that insurers cover prescriptions. Also, the biggest drug makers currently subsidize the prescriptions of poorer customers, and health care reform provides an opportunity to shift the subsidy costs onto the government and the insurers.
“Quite frankly, Americans deserve co-pay reform,” Brennan said. Translation: Government should regulate insurers in a way that subsidizes prescription drugs.
Brennan also bragged about the industry’s recent lobbying for big government, notably its central role in passing both the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and George W. Bush’s Medicare prescription drug coverage.
Big Business + Big Government = Big Money for Both = Empty wallet for Taxpayers
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