For the last 30 years, American have been paying twice as much for pharmaceuticals as all other
nations. During every presidential election, candidates promise to change this. But they never do.
The fact is that the pharmaceutical industry has controlled Congress since the Prescription Drug
Marketing Act was passed in 1987. This costs us all more!
There are mechanisms to increase competition in the pharmaceutical industry. For example,
rescinding Reimportation. Lowering taxes for inverted corporations to “come back to America”
doesn’t work in pharmaceuticals since we no longer have facilities or skilled work force to produce
them here now.
Today, the best treatments and cures are Biologicals, biosimilar [generic Biologicals] and stem
cells which are very costly, except for the 90 million Medicaid recipients’, 12 million of whom are
poor and over 65.
Congress is focused on Medicaid ( 90 million of the neediest cases.) This is a larger group than
millennials (72 million), who are our healthiest citizens. But Politicians like all of us are only
concerned about their health insurance.
Politicians often talk about preexisting conditions. However, science has used DNA tests to confirm
that most of us have these from birth.
Every night TV stations show advertisements on new biological drugs, omitting both their cost and
complete product information. These used to say, “ask your pharmacists” but now say “ask your
physicians”, without providing more important information pharmacists know that physicians do not.
In the 1999 “To Err is Human” report by IOM, “medical errors” were reported; up to 94,000 Americans
died from them. As nothing has been done since we should not be surprised that the number has
tripled. Conversely, life expectancy has increased. According to Social Security, a 65-year old can expect
to “live until 90!” http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/03/476636183/death-certificates-undercount-
toll-of-medical-errors
Democratic politicians are conflicted on this issue; They write legislation to expand our market to
Canada, (the second most expensive drug supplier,) while my Senator sent warning letters about
Canadian Drugs, funded by PhRMA.
Additionally, Candidate Obama promised to end this in 2007, but “cut an $80 billion deal with
PhRMA” to get their support for Obamacare. This supposedly decreased Medicaid Drug Rebates, to
23.5%, when they were then averaging 35%.
In my book, I present research to prove that PhRMA members and other drug manufacturers “shorted”
Medicaid Rebates by $57 billion, based on the government reports. However, I cannot find any
politicians interested in recovering taxpayer’s money.
In the near future, when Medicaid is sent back to states whose budgets have 25% in both Medicaid
and education, the combined amounts will be 66% of the state’s budgets. This will require cuts to
one or both, or taxes will have to be increased. What then?
Democratic politicians are conflicted on this issue; They write legislation to expand our market to
Canada, (the second most expensive drug supplier,) while my Senator sent warning letters about
Canadian Drugs, funded by PhRMA.
Additionally, Candidate Obama promised to end this in 2007, but “cut an $80 billion deal with
PhRMA” to get their support for Obamacare. This supposedly decreased Medicaid Drug Rebates, to
23.5%, when they were then averaging 35%.
In my book, I present research to prove that PhRMA members and other drug manufacturers “shorted”
Medicaid Rebates by $57 billion, based on the government reports. However, I cannot find any
politicians interested in recovering taxpayer’s money.
In the near future, when Medicaid is sent back to states whose budgets have 25% in both Medicaid
and education, the combined amounts will be 66% of the state’s budgets. This will require cuts to
one or both, or
taxes will have to be increased. What then?