It appears that with polls showing 70%+ of Americans wanting a public health care option, the health care industry has blinked: Big Pharma has announced that they will forgo $80 billion in profits to help seniors suffering from medicare "donut hole" payments.
We heard last month the big talk from the health care industry committing to saving money but we also heard lots of backtracking. I think that the industry blinked because they see the writing on the wall, particularly after the House passed their health care plan WITH the public option.
Now it's PR time for the industry as they scramble to save their awful image.
The pharmaceutical industry agreed Saturday to spend $80 billion over the next decade improving drug benefits for seniors on Medicare and defraying the cost of President Barack Obama's health care legislation, capping secretive negotiations involving key lawmakers and the White House.
"This new coverage means affordable prices on prescription drugs when Medicare benefits don't cover the cost of prescriptions," Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement announcing the accord.
The deal marked a major triumph for Baucus as well as the administration. Obama praised the deal.
[snip
Baucus' announcement said drug companies would pay half of the cost of brand-name drugs for seniors in the so-called doughnut hole]
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Congratulations Max Baucus and Barack Obama from pulling the health care plan from the ashes of the industry onslaught.
This better not be a red herring.
Health care reform with a public option needs to happen... or else you will lose much of the progressive movement. What else are you in office for if it isn't this?