Congress Exempts Itself From Health Reform?

Can some of the political geniuses on this site verify or point us in the right direction to see for ourselves of the word that is spreading around before the passage of this Health Care Reform Legislation that the Congress has exempted itself from the provisions within that bill that is being forced down our throats.

 

The Republicans had not given any good ideas on Health Care and Big Pharma along with the Insurance companies are getting the lions share of the goodies.

 

Could you elaborate please?

 

The rules for this American Health Care favors the Insurance and Drug Companies because the people would still can't afford it because the choices between Private and Government care is nonexistant. Only via lobbiests that those two entities would make more money than they ever had before. I hope there would be some releif for the common person when the ideas of Senate and House version are ironed out but,I doubt it. Geek,in Sweden health care is not that difficult with less wories about paying for it but,here there are headaches. If you know something I don't on the Swedish Health Care System, please let me know.

 

ST, I know pretty much all there is to know about the Swedish Health Care System, but that wasnt what we were talking about, its irrelevant.
As Ive been here since 94, I know enough about the existing health care system but I know less about the Health Care Reform.
Im not sure I understand what you say the Big Pharma gets part of the lionshare of the money in the reform.

 

Geek,the price on drugs will not go down since they had assurances that their profits would be safe. It is doubtful there would be discounts for regular people. To date no Republican congressman or senator had not dropped THEIR government sponsored healthcare for private insurance.

 

The crux is that for every drug that makes it to the market, at least 10 failed - all the failed drugs cost much over 10s of million of dollars each before they are scrapped.
That money has to be recouperated somehow - by prices on drugs making it to the market - these drugs will have to function as a mean to get the money back on the failed drugs so its not 100% profit, far from it.

Also, once a drug makes it to the market, it usually only have a few years left of the patent life - that means that the company only have a couple of years on that approved drug to make up the loss of RnD money on failed drugs.
Once the patent expired, the drug will become generic and the company can no longer can expect any profit that can recouperate the loss of said RnD money.
This is why so many biotecs tank, they take a big gamble, spend millions of dollars on a drug that dont make it - and poof, they are gone. Most biotechs are in teh market to develop a drug and hope Big Pharma buy it. May times, once Big Pharma biy it, its still not a complete go.
As an exapmle, Merck bought a brug from a bio tech company for 400 million!!! It failed.

Right now, the Pharma industry is not in a very good shape and many of the big ones have stopped their Investigator Initiated Programs (funding for clinical trials originating with the MD's, not the company).
This is why you see some any take-overs and mergers right now. Something that should happen, the Industry is cleaning itself up.
The Big Pharma has a reputation that is just as bad as the Tobacco industry and they want to change that. Hopefully we will see some changes after an Industry initiated program that was agreed upon by all companies (started this summer) but it will take years.
.
One of the problems is acctually the approval process, a goverment owned function. They have been critiizised for years and is a huge part of this problem of drugs being expensive.

In Eurpope the drugs are to a large extent subsidized as you know and most insurance companies do not make any protfit on basic generic insurance, they shouldnt. It should be accessible to everybody. Here the Insurance companies make a bundle.
In Sweden (perhaps all Eurpoean contries??), If you have a chronic disease, that drug is free for you, payed by the state.
Drugs are cheaper in Europe, Canada, Mexico etc than here so it is clear that somethings "up" here and there are so many places to clean up to make this clean... I pray and hope we get there.

 

well duh, they bought a "brug"...that's why it failed...

now if they bought a drug.....

 

Here you go..

A new bill "was written into the new health care reform initiative ensuring that Congress will be 100 percent exempt."

Chain e-mail on Monday, August 24th, 2009 in a message forwarded to many people
'$64,000 question' e-mail says Congress is exempt from health reform. They're not.

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A chain e-mail claims that Congress has exempted itself from health care reform.
The e-mail appears to have been created shortly after President Barack Obama appeared in a forum on health care with Charlie Gibson of ABC News, an event that took place on June 24, 2009.
It has the subject line, "The $64,000 Question." (For you young whippersnappers, The $64,000 Question was a popular game show that aired in the 1950s and revived in the 1970s as The $128,000 Question .)
Here's the text of the e-mail:
"Finally ... The $64,000 question was asked ... Yesterday on ABC TV (better known as the all Barack Channel) during the 'Network Special on Health Care' ... Obama was asked:
"'Mr. President, will you and your family give up your current health care program and join the new "universal health care program" that the rest of us will be on????' ... (Bet you already know the answer) ... There was a stoney silence as Obama ignored the question and chose not to answer it!!!
"In addition, a number of senators were asked the same question, and their response was ... 'We will think about it.' And they did. It was announced today on the news that the 'Kennedy Health Care Bill' was written into the new health care reform initiative ensuring that Congress will be 100 percent exempt!
"So, this great new health care plan that is good for you and I ... is not good enough for Obama, his family or Congress...?? We (the American public) need to stop this proposed debacle ASAP!!!! ... This is totally wrong!!!!!
"Personally, I can only accept a universal health care overhaul that extends to everyone ... Not just us lowly citizens ... While the Washington 'elite' keep right with their gold-plated health care coverage. If you agree please pass this on ... "
A reader sent us the e-mail and asked if it was true.
To start with, the e-mail seems to assume — though it doesn't say so explicitly — that the health care reform plan sends everyone into a new public plan. This is not the case.
The Democratic health care legislation under consideration in Congress leaves in place employer-provided health insurance for the vast majority of Americans. But people who work for small businesses, are self-employed or currently uninsured would be eligible for a separate system known as the health care exchange. It would offer a variety of plans, including a government-run plan that is known as the public option.
Much of the controversy about health care reform has surrounded the public option. Critics say it could create a large bureaucracy and would not provide coverage as good as private insurers, while supporters say it would stimulate competition for people in the exchange. People who receive health insurance coverage from large employers would not be eligible for the public option.
Members of Congress are offered insurance through their employer, which in this case is the federal government. They can purchase it through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, which is offered to all federal employees. (We've written about this plan previously.) Under the plan, federal workers — and members of Congress — can choose from a variety of insurance plans just as people would in the new health care exchange.
There's nothing in the health care bills that exempts Congress from the same requirements as regular citizens. However, some Republicans have attempted to pass amendments that would require members of Congress to drop their current coverage and force them to enroll in the public option. Republicans have said it would prove to the American people that the public option is a good thing. But Democrats have largely voted against these amendments, as we've reported previously .
But the chain e-mail doesn't address this. Instead, it says members of Congress have somehow exempted themselves from reform, which is not correct. Under the bill, the lawmakers would continue to receive the same insurance they get now, just as most Americans would.
Members of Congress are treated like any other citizens under the terms of the bill. We rate the chain e-mail's statement False.

 

Thanks Loki, I suspected something was not right when so many of the talking heads in the media failed to bring this up at all. You confirmed it

 

Yet another example of some government people and other creepy individuals wanting Obama to fail
It sucks!

 

You got that right Geek.