What's a dollar here and a dollar there ?


From Florida Senator Bill Nelson Senate site:

Democrats Spar Among Themselves Over PhRMA Deal

It appears the that the PhRMA folks (read lobbyist Billy Tauzin) cut themselves a pretty fine sweet-heart deal back in August with that NYT: $80B in cost rebates over 10 years that actually saved them about $86B in the long run.

From that NYT link August 6, 2009. .

Mr. Tauzin said the administration had approached him to negotiate. "They wanted a big player to come in and set the bar for everybody else," he said. He said the White House had directed him to negotiate with Senator Max Baucus, the business-friendly Montana Democrat who leads the Senate Finance Committee.

Mr. Tauzin said the White House had tracked the negotiations throughout, assenting to decisions to move away from ideas like the government negotiation of prices or the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada. The $80 billion in savings would be over a 10-year period. "80 billion is the max, no more or less," he said. "Adding other stuff changes the deal."

After reaching an agreement with Mr. Baucus, Mr. Tauzin said, he met twice at the White House with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff; Mr. Messina, his deputy; and Nancy-Ann DeParle, the aide overseeing the health care overhaul, to confirm the administration's support for the terms.

At $168B savings (read the first link) it would completely close the "donut hole" and there would be an additional $50B to spread to other Medicare savings needs. And this wouldn't even take into consideration the proposed amendments doing away with the Medicare Advantage Part-C ... See:

NYT: Medicare Advantage: Suddenly a Battle With Three Fronts

Fun and games at the cost of the country . . .

~OGD~