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Tear Up the Deal with Big Pharma
  1. Signatures
    565 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. The President of the United States (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The President of the United States
      • The U.S. Senate
      • The U.S. House of Representatives
  2. Created By
    Timothy Foley
    New York, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter
Why This Is Important

As reported in the NY Times, when the White House made a deal with the industry group PhRMA, they promised that pharmaceutical companies would be shielded from any further cost reduction measures if they agreed to help close the Medicare Part D coverage gap.  This means the public health insurance option, the best way to compete against private insurance companies and keep them honest, would not be allowed to negotiate the best rates on prescription drugs like any other health insurance plan does!

This not only is a huge blow the public option, but it also makes it that much harder to control out-of-control health care costs throughout the system.

To quote Rep. Raul Grijalva, "It is a pivotal issue not just about health care. Are industry groups going to be the ones at the table who get the first big piece of the pie and we just fight over the crust?"

Write to Congress and the President -- tell them to tear up this deal!

(Photo credit: cayusa on Flickr)

Recent Signatures

Tear Up the White House Deal with Pharma

Dear Representatives

I was dismayed and disappointed to read the details that have surfaced about the deal that Sen. Baucus and the White House made with the industry group PhRMA.

When initially announced, the pledge by PhRMA to close the "doughnut hole" in Medicare Part D by $80 billion over 10 years seemed a good deal, and a welcome sign of cooperation from an industry notoriously hostile to past efforts at reforming health care. It seemed like a step towards controlling costs in our bloated health care system. But the new details that have come to light not only undermine one of the best amendments to House bill HR 3200, but reveal that this deal has come at far too high a price!

Let’s be honest: capping savings in our health care system from PhRMA is giving away the farm.

The whole point of a public option is that it has incentive to lower costs and a large enough member base to get good discounts, like any other big group health insurance plan. One of the reasons the VA has been able to deliver high quality care and lower costs than Medicare is the ridiculous provision in Medicare Part D that prohibits negotiating for the best rates (provisions, it should be noted, written by PhRMA President Bully Tauzin when he was in the House). For all the talk of a “level playing field” to allow private insurance to compete with the public option, this gives private insurance plans a marked advantage over the public health insurance option. One can negotiate a good deal on a major source of health care costs. Now, thanks to this deal, the other cannot.

It is embarrassing that President Obama, who campaigned pledging openness during reform negotiations, should have allowed such a backroom deal that betrays the notion of shared sacrifice to reduce out-of-control health care costs. It is absurd that it should involve Mr. Tauzin, who with his public tantrum has shown himself untrustworthy and willing to defend the $39 billion+ in profits his industry makes over achieving real reform that would benefit us all.

This deal is, in a word, unacceptable. The secrecy was beneath everyone involved. Now that it’s out in the open, we need to tear it up and start over.

[Your name]