Phrma Lobby

Anna Eshoo's PhRMA Boondoggle: The Devil Is In Her Details

Jane Hamsher | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics


Jane Hamsher

Thank you, Rep. Eshoo, for your commitment to having a bill that does not allow for "evergreening." Now the question becomes -- how are we going to get one?

Lobbyists See No End To Health Reform Frenzy

The Huffington Post | Jenna Staul | Posted 10.22.2009 | Business


Despite the lackluster economy, some lobbyists expect decades' worth of job security thanks to this year's health care reform haul, reports The Hill. ...

Baucus And White House Wooed Industry Groups For Support

The Huffington Post | Jenna Staul | Posted 10.16.2009 | Business


Politico reports that the White House and Sen. Max Baucus helped create a corporate-backed health reform campaign by fostering a relationship with ind...

Chamber Of Commerce Tops Health Reform Lobbyist List

The Huffington Post | Jenna Staul | Posted 10.06.2009 | Business


The National Journal's Under the Influence blog has published a comprehensivelist of the top 25 spenders -- and lobbying groups -- in the movement to ...

A Death Every 12 Minutes: The Price of Not Having Medicare for All

John Geyman | Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

In 2002, that more than 18,000 Americans between the ages of 19 and 64 were dying each year as a result of being uninsured. The new number is two and a half times that figure.

Ryan Grim

Baucus Bill Sticks To Pharma Deal That Supposedly Wasn't Struck

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics


The bill unveiled by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has been blasted as a major giveaway to insurance companies. But the even bigger win...

Republicans Defending Medicare: Duplicity Beyond Belief

John Geyman | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

Republicans have fought against Medicare from the very beginning. But in their strategy to kill health care reform, they are all of a sudden sounding like defenders of Medicare against the evils of big government.

The Final Sprint for Health Care Has Now Begun

Robert Reich | Posted 11.11.2009 | Politics


Robert Reich

The real political race for health care has just begun. Obama's speech should be seen as the starting gate of a two-month sprint between two competitors -- and they're not Democrats and Republicans.

The Corporate "Alliance" For Health Care Reform: V - Organized Medicine

John Geyman | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

Organized medicine has become so fragmented that no one group speaks for the profession. In fact, some groups have endorsed major health care reform.

Baucus Co-Op Plan "Authored" By Ex-Insurance Industry VP

Campaign Silo | Jane Hamsher | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics


When Max Baucus circulated his draft plan earlier this week, the PDF documentation page (image) indicates that the "author" was ex-Wellpoint VP Liz Fo...

Why Obama Won August: Ambinder

The Atlantic | Marc Ambinder | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics


At the beginning of the month, I predicted that August might turn out be a bloodbath for Democrats. At the time, the Democratic self-containment on he...

The Corporate "Alliance" For Health Care Reform: III. The Hospital Industry

John Geyman | Posted 10.17.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

Likely rewards to the hospital industry from health care reform? If events continue in direction they are now, hospitals will thrive, with more insured people and generous accommodations from government.

The Corporate "Alliance" for Health Care Reform: Pledges, Agendas, Tactics and Likely Rewards the Insurance Industry

John Geyman | Posted 09.25.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

The drug industry's agenda is crystal-clear: expand its markets through wider insurance coverage, avoid price controls, and gain maximal patent protection.

Fiscal Conservatism and Health Care Reform: a Bipartisan No-Brainer?

John Geyman | Posted 09.20.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

Why this incredible disconnect among our elected representatives shaping the future of one-sixth of our economy and future health care of all 310 million of us?

Health Care "Reform" 2009: The Fallacy of Affordability and Cost Containment

John Geyman | Posted 09.19.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

Despite some useful provisions, it is wishful thinking to believe that health care "reform", as projected by current proposals being considered in Congress, can actually make health insurance more affordable and make a real difference to people already burdened by their spiraling costs.

Exchanges, Co-Ops and Cop-Outs on Health Care Reform

John Geyman | Posted 09.17.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

If enacted, exchanges and co-ops offering a small public option will only raise hopes for reform that will never come, and are therefore a cop-out for those shaping this year's reform attempt.

Change We Can Believe In: Feelings Toward the Administration by Those Who Elected It

Drew Westen | Posted 09.13.2009 | Politics


Drew Westen

The American people did not vote for "bipartisan" solutions that split the difference between the failed ideology of the last eight years and the change the president and the super-majorities they elected in both houses of Congress promised.

How the White House's Deal With Big Pharma Undermines Democracy

Robert Reich | Posted 09.11.2009 | Politics


Robert Reich

I'm a strong supporter of universal health insurance, and a fan of the Obama administration. But I'm appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry's lobbying arm to buy their support.

Big Pharma has Lured Dems Into a Faustian Bargain

Merrill Goozner | Posted 09.11.2009 | Politics


Merrill Goozner

Reformers were naïve if they thought the world had changed simply because there were new tenants in the majority offices on the Hill or in the White House.

Is Health Care Reform About to Go the Way of No Child Left Behind?

Arianna Huffington | Posted 09.10.2009 | Politics


Arianna Huffington

The White House may be willing to cave on drug price negotiations and having a public option. Giving us health care reform without those key ingredients is like serving a PBJ sandwich without the peanut butter or the jelly.

"Facts" About American Health Care Revisited

John Geyman | Posted 09.06.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

A recent post at the National Center for Policy Analysis expounded on 10 "surprising facts" about our health care system. The piece cherry picks literature to make a political point.

Subsidizing Our Way To Affordable Health Insurance: A Futile And Unaffordable Quest

John Geyman | Posted 09.01.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

What is likely to emerge from Congress on health care reform this year, if anything, will not be real reform and will only add to our problems.

Eshoo and Barton Team Up to Block Generic Biologic Medicines

James Love | Posted 08.31.2009 | Politics


James Love

The Eshoo/Barton amendment, which has the support of many newly pro-PhRMA democrats, will extend the period of monopolies for biologic medicines.

The Public Option: Dead By Pen Strokes In Congressional Committees

John Geyman | Posted 08.28.2009 | Living


John Geyman

The initial idea of a public option was premised on the thought that a public plan could bring needed competition into the financing of health care. Forget that dream.

Individual Mandates: Expensive Policy Failure And Bonanza For Insurers And Market Stakeholders

John Geyman | Posted 08.23.2009 | Politics


John Geyman

Mandates have not resulted in universal coverage in any state. They are complex, very expensive, not sustainable, and have unforeseen unintended consequences.