It's not just spending on U.S. healthcare that is breaking records. Drugmakers, insurers and industry groups are on track to spend an all-time high of more than $500 million this year to influence Congress' revamp of the healthcare system.
Lobbyists for the healthcare sector will likely smash previous spending records by tens of millions of dollars this year as Democratic lawmakers try to reshape the industry by expanding coverage and shaving costs.
"If current trends continue, the health sector is likely to spend more than a half-billion dollars on lobbying in 2009," said The New England Journal of Medicine's Dr. Robert Steinbrook.
As Congress makes a final push for a bill to overhaul the $2.5 trillion healthcare system that fuels one-sixth of the U.S. economy, health companies and industry groups are trying to shape the outcome.
READ MORE @ REUTERS
Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Rising Prices of Drugs Lead to Call for Inquiry
Democrats in Congress asked for two separate investigations of drug industry pricing Wednesday as they continue working on legislation to overhaul the nation’s health care system.
Responding to news reports of unusually high wholesale price increases in brand-name prescription drugs, four House leaders and one senator asked for government reviews of the pricing practices.
Although drug makers challenge the theory, some experts say the run-up in wholesale prices may be partly related to the industry’s concerns about future cost containment under any health care legislation.
“Recent studies have indicated that the industry may be artificially raising prices for certain pharmaceutical products in expectation of new reforms,” the House Democrats wrote in a letter to the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress. “Any price gouging is unacceptable, but anticipatory price gouging is especially offensive,” the letter added, asking the G.A.O. to conduct an expedited review of the price increases.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
Responding to news reports of unusually high wholesale price increases in brand-name prescription drugs, four House leaders and one senator asked for government reviews of the pricing practices.
Although drug makers challenge the theory, some experts say the run-up in wholesale prices may be partly related to the industry’s concerns about future cost containment under any health care legislation.
“Recent studies have indicated that the industry may be artificially raising prices for certain pharmaceutical products in expectation of new reforms,” the House Democrats wrote in a letter to the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress. “Any price gouging is unacceptable, but anticipatory price gouging is especially offensive,” the letter added, asking the G.A.O. to conduct an expedited review of the price increases.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Novartis spent almost $1.4 million lobbying in 3Q
Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG spent nearly $1.4 million lobbying the U.S. government in the third quarter, according to a recent disclosure form.
Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people ) lobbied on bills designed to ensure the government has a sufficient stockpile of influenza vaccine in case of an outbreak, and that the government helps pay for vaccines for seniors, children and uninsured adults. The company makes flu vaccine, as well as vaccines against rabies, meningitis and several childhood illnesses.
Novartis also lobbied on the Defense Department's budget and another bill involving the military's Tricare program, which insures about 9 million current and retired service members and dependents. The company, which makes two anti-rejection drugs, Neoral and Myfortic, lobbied to provide comprehensive coverage for immune-suppressing drugs for kidney transplant patients.
READ MORE @ FORBES
Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people ) lobbied on bills designed to ensure the government has a sufficient stockpile of influenza vaccine in case of an outbreak, and that the government helps pay for vaccines for seniors, children and uninsured adults. The company makes flu vaccine, as well as vaccines against rabies, meningitis and several childhood illnesses.
Novartis also lobbied on the Defense Department's budget and another bill involving the military's Tricare program, which insures about 9 million current and retired service members and dependents. The company, which makes two anti-rejection drugs, Neoral and Myfortic, lobbied to provide comprehensive coverage for immune-suppressing drugs for kidney transplant patients.
READ MORE @ FORBES
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Mental Health Costs to Drop After Override of Medicare Veto - Medicare patients' copays for psychiatric care will fall from 50% to 20% by 2014
There's some little-noticed good news for patients in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 that became law with Congress's override of President Bush's veto on Tuesday: Medicare beneficiaries in need of mental health services will soon face lower coinsurance payments and will have improved access to certain medications.
"We're going to save lives with this bill," says Nada Stotland, president of the American Psychiatric Association. The new law reduces the out-of-pocket cost for outpatient mental health services from the current 50 percent coinsurance payment to a 20 percent copay—matching the copay required for other types of medical care—by the year 2014. The reduction in beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs will be phased in. Medicare recipients will continue to pay a 50 percent copay until 2010; in 2010 and 2011, they'll pay 45 percent; in 2012, 40 percent; in 2013, 35 percent; and in 2014, they'll have a 20 percent copay.
READ MORE @ U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
"We're going to save lives with this bill," says Nada Stotland, president of the American Psychiatric Association. The new law reduces the out-of-pocket cost for outpatient mental health services from the current 50 percent coinsurance payment to a 20 percent copay—matching the copay required for other types of medical care—by the year 2014. The reduction in beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs will be phased in. Medicare recipients will continue to pay a 50 percent copay until 2010; in 2010 and 2011, they'll pay 45 percent; in 2012, 40 percent; in 2013, 35 percent; and in 2014, they'll have a 20 percent copay.
READ MORE @ U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
Thursday, June 26, 2008
House Votes to Expand Civil Rights for Disabled
The House passed a major civil rights bill on Wednesday that would expand protections for people with disabilities and overturn several Supreme Court decisions issued in the last decade.
The bill, approved 402 to 17, would make it easier for workers to prove discrimination. It would explicitly relax some stringent standards set by the court and says that disability is to be “construed broadly,” to cover more physical and mental impairments.
Supporters of the proposal said it would restore the broad protections that Congress meant to establish when it passed the Americans With Disabilities Act that President George Bush signed in 1990.
Lawmakers said Wednesday that people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other ailments had been improperly denied protection because their conditions could be controlled by medication or were in remission. In a Texas case, for example, a federal judge said a worker with epilepsy could not be considered disabled because he was taking medications that reduced the frequency of seizures.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
The bill, approved 402 to 17, would make it easier for workers to prove discrimination. It would explicitly relax some stringent standards set by the court and says that disability is to be “construed broadly,” to cover more physical and mental impairments.
Supporters of the proposal said it would restore the broad protections that Congress meant to establish when it passed the Americans With Disabilities Act that President George Bush signed in 1990.
Lawmakers said Wednesday that people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other ailments had been improperly denied protection because their conditions could be controlled by medication or were in remission. In a Texas case, for example, a federal judge said a worker with epilepsy could not be considered disabled because he was taking medications that reduced the frequency of seizures.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
Monday, May 26, 2008
Pharmaceutical Payola-Drug Marketing to Doctors
Last week, a Congressional committee properly raked Big Pharma over the coals for misleading advertising of pharmaceuticals.
A hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight subcommittee focused on advertising campaigns for three drugs, including the remarkable case of Robert Jarvik. Jarvik is featured in endlessly re-run ads for Pfizer's blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor. Known as the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, he is not a cardiologist, not a licensed medical doctor and not authorized to prescribe pharmaceuticals. He's shown in the ads engaged in vigorous rowing activity, but in fact he doesn't row. Pfizer pulled the ads in February after controversy started brewing.
Among industrialized countries, only the United States and New Zealand permit drug companies to market directly to consumers. It's a bad idea, it drives bad medicine, and it should be banned.
But although it has the highest profile, direct-to-consumer advertising is a small part of Pharma's marketing machine.
READ MORE @ CORP WATCH
A hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight subcommittee focused on advertising campaigns for three drugs, including the remarkable case of Robert Jarvik. Jarvik is featured in endlessly re-run ads for Pfizer's blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor. Known as the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, he is not a cardiologist, not a licensed medical doctor and not authorized to prescribe pharmaceuticals. He's shown in the ads engaged in vigorous rowing activity, but in fact he doesn't row. Pfizer pulled the ads in February after controversy started brewing.
Among industrialized countries, only the United States and New Zealand permit drug companies to market directly to consumers. It's a bad idea, it drives bad medicine, and it should be banned.
But although it has the highest profile, direct-to-consumer advertising is a small part of Pharma's marketing machine.
READ MORE @ CORP WATCH
Thursday, March 6, 2008
House Approves Bill on Mental Health Parity
After more than a decade of struggle, the House on Wednesday passed a bill requiring most group health plans to provide more generous coverage for treatment of mental illnesses, comparable to what they provide for physical illnesses.
The vote was 268 to 148, with 47 Republicans joining 221 Democrats in support of the measure.
The Senate has passed a similar bill requiring equivalence, or parity, in coverage of mental and physical ailments. Federal law now allows insurers to discriminate, and most do so, by setting higher co-payments or stricter limits on mental health benefits.
“Illness of the brain must be treated just like illness anywhere else in the body,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. Supporters of the House bill, including consumer groups and the American Psychiatric Association, said it would be a boon to many of the 35 million Americans who experience disabling symptoms of mental disorders each year.
READ MPRE @ NY TIMES
The vote was 268 to 148, with 47 Republicans joining 221 Democrats in support of the measure.
The Senate has passed a similar bill requiring equivalence, or parity, in coverage of mental and physical ailments. Federal law now allows insurers to discriminate, and most do so, by setting higher co-payments or stricter limits on mental health benefits.
“Illness of the brain must be treated just like illness anywhere else in the body,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. Supporters of the House bill, including consumer groups and the American Psychiatric Association, said it would be a boon to many of the 35 million Americans who experience disabling symptoms of mental disorders each year.
READ MPRE @ NY TIMES
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