It looks like the deal with Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) for an $80 billion reduction in drug costs is a sivery bad deal. The deal was made with Bill Tauzin of PhRMA.
Tauzin, of course, is the former Republican congressman from Louisiana who chaired the Hose committee that regulates the pharmaceutical industry.
While in Congress, Tauzin, who co-authored the bill of Medicare Part D, was at the same time negotiating for a $2.5 million job with PhRMA. He was a Democrat for 16 years and was one of the co-founders of the House Blue Dog Coalition.
This is what ABC News.correspondent Jake Tapper said of Tauzin in Auguust : “Former House Energy and Commerce chairman Bill Tauzin, R-La., now the head of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, told the New York Times, "We were assured: ‘We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal.' Who is ever going to go into a deal with the White House again if they don’t keep their word? You are just going to duke it out instead.”
Tauzin went on to tell The Times, “They wanted a big player to come in and set the bar for everybody else,” asserting that in terms of contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, "$80 billion is the max, no more or less. Adding other stuff changes the deal.”
Tauzin said that after the deal was reached with Baucus, he confirmed the terms of the deal with White House Chief if Staff Rahm Emanuel, deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, and health care reform czar Nancy-Ann DeParle.
“They blessed the deal,” Tauzin told the Times. "As far we are concerned, that is a done deal. It’s up to the White House and Senator Baucus to follow through.”
I believe that Baucus and Obama left a lot of money on the table. It was probably as high as $200 billion. I also know that Obama is smart and the deal does not sound like a smart guy’s move. In smart business, you play the game and bring the enemy (drug companies) into the open. That is what they did with Tauzin.
Once you are there, you get your team organized (health care bill) and then you squeeze more. I think that this is what is up Rahm Emanuel’s sleeve for the administration. Also, I do not believe that the Democrats in Congress would allow such a minimal drug negotiation considering what Tauzin and the Republicans dragged them through during the formation of the original Medicare Part D bill.
I hope that the deal will only be a dream for PhRMA and Tauzin.