Has the White House Given the Health-Care Industry Immunity?
There’s been a lot of skepticism about the White House’s strategy of cutting deals in which industry players voluntarily promise to save money over the next 10 years. The skepticism is simple enough: If the pharmaceutical companies are willing to save $80 billion as a favor to Barack Obama, that suggests there’s a lot more than $80 billion that could, and probably should, be saved. As Nancy Pelosi told me, “The minute the drug companies settled for $80 billion, we knew it was $160 billion. Right? If they’re giving away $80 billion?” A few minutes later, she suggested that maybe those agreements weren’t inviolable. “The president made the agreements he made,” she said. “And maybe we’ll be limited by that. But maybe not!” A front-page story in today’s New York Times suggests that her optimism was misplaced. Billy Tauzin, head lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry, hasn’t liked some of the cost-saving measures moving through the House. In particular, he’s worried about provisions that
