Emails Reveal White House Healthcare ..Pharmaceutical Industry

cp418

Emails Reveal White House Healthcare Deals With Pharmaceutical Industry.

The Wall Street Journal (6/1, Mundy) says GOP leadership in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating how the Affordable Care Act was crafted, released emails Thursday from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America that reveal how the White House struck a deal with the pharmaceutical industry to get the healthcare reform bill passed. According to the emails, the pharmaceutical lobby got a "good deal" by capitalizing on negative media coverage that focused on the rising costs of healthcare reform. White House concessions to industry included abandoning price controls for prescription drugs and abandoning Obama's campaign pledge to allow the reimportation of cheaper drugs. White House spokesman Eric Schultz called the release of the emails "a nakedly political, taxpayer-funded crusade to hurt the president's re-election campaign."

        The Washington Times (6/1, Cunningham) says the emails reveal that former White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina and healthcare reform advisor Nancy-Ann DeParle "told drug company representatives in June 2009 that if they didn't cooperate on the initiative, Mr. Obama would demand a 15 percent rebate on Medicare drugs and push to remove the tax deduction for direct consumer advertising -- items that could cost the industry $100 billion over the next decade." Those threats apparently worked, since parties worked out a deal shortly thereafter. The drug companies "agreed to pay higher Medicaid rebates and a new healthcare reform fee to raise $80 billion for the legislation, and promised to run positive television ads about it. In exchange, the White House gave them direct input into the new policies and promised to let them continue to set their own drug prices."

        The AP (6/1) adds Nancy-Ann DeParle "told PhRMA's chief lobbyist for negotiating the deal that the White House would oppose new drug importation policies because of 'how constructive' PhRMA had been. According to PhRMA's lobbyist, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina told him that the 'WH is working on some very explicit language on importation to kill it in health reform.'"

        Politico (6/1, Haberkorn) quotes White House spokesman Eric Schultz as saying of the House panel, "This is the same House committee that has spent, according to one report, over $1 million in taxpayer dollars for the past 15 months looking into baseless allegations on Solyndra -- but has done almost nothing to move legislation that would create jobs or grow the economy." Also covering this story are Roll Call (6/1, Strong, Subscription Publication), Bloomberg News (6/1, Armstrong), The Hill (6/1, Baker) "Healthwatch" blog, and CQ (6/1, Subscription Publication).