By America Castro, CIS Compliance Specialist
americacastro@cis-partners.com
Last week we looked at the Obama/Biden ticket, their views on Health Care and how will it affect the overall pharmaceutical industry. Both Obama and Biden are strong believers of increasing government funded programs to achieve their “Health Care access for all” plan. If the Obama/Biden ticket was to win the presidential race next November, Health Care related issues would remain as a top priority in their “to-do” list. To continue with our “political analysis” here at CIS, this week we will examine the McCain/Palin ticket to determine the same.
Given her short term serving as governor of Alaska, Palin does not have a “strong” documented view when it comes to Health Care issues; overall, she is in line with McCain’s proposed Health Care reform. Palin believes that Health Care should be run in a free market and business driven environment rather than a heavily government administered program environment (Obama and Biden’s proposal). Thus, we should not expect that the nomination of Palin will result in any major changes in McCain’s strategy when it comes to Health Care related issues.
According to Palin, “Doctors should manage Health Care, not bureaucracies.” As governor of Alaska, Palin introduced the Health Care Transparency Act, which aimed to provide consumers with better pricing information that would consequently lead to stronger market competition. Ms. Palin also proposed to eliminate the Certificate of Need Program (CON) to increase choice and manage rising costs in a more efficient manner.
McCain’s proposed Health Care reform includes:
•Opposition to mandates for coverage
•Provide access to Health Care for all by paying only for quality Health Care; encourages personal responsibility
•Remove the favorable tax treatment of employer sponsored insurance and provide a tax credit to all individuals and families to increase incentives for insurance coverage
•Allowance of Drug re-importation
Both McCain and Palin are strong believers that personal responsibility by each individual plays a major role in the Health Care System, and in the flexibility in government regulations to allow for better competitions and a drop in costs that would eventually lead to a drop on government subsidies.
Regardless of who wins the presidential election next November, Health Care will remain as a hot topic. One of the key factors that will have a great impact on our industry is drug re-importation from countries such as Canada. This is a proposal that both McCain and Obama support. If this is to become a reality, we will see a huge impact on pricing and market competition. Indeed, we should expect changes that could have a major impact in our industry and in how government programs are run.
1 On the Issues “Sarah Palin on Health Care”
http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Sarah_Palin_Health_Care.htm
3 COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE:
Who cares about Palin? She's a shallow, cardboard cutout candidate. McCain is the Presidential candidate and one making the decisions, remember? Obama 2008!
Health Care reform is inevitable no matter who wins the election. You have your head in the sand if you think otherwise.
Branded drug manufacturers profit margins will continue to erode while generics gain ground due to efforts such as a narrowing Med D payer reimbursement-risk corridors, Chuck Grassley's continued reform campaign and H.R. 6800 introduced by Dennis Kucinich.
The specialty/orphan drug market will continue to reward manufacturers for innovation and those seeking a return on long-term Pharmaceutical-Biotech investments.
For reference, H.R. 6800, The Medicare Drugs for Seniors Act, requires that Medicare use its bulk purchasing power to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry, like the Department of Veterans Affairs does. And imposes limits on prices pharmaceutical companies would be allowed to charge, if the research and development that led to the drug’s discovery had been financed by taxpayer dollars.
http://www.kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=99417
Peace. Love. Obama.
I agree with Uncle Joe. It not about who, it's about when and how much reform.
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