Obama To Tout Medicare Drug Costs Deal

(AP)  President Barack Obama will make a formal announcement at noon on Monday welcoming the weekend agreement by the pharmaceutical industry to help close a gap in prescription drug coverage under Medicare.

The president has invited Barry Rand, head of the senior citizens' advocacy group, AARP, to appear with him.

The drug companies have pledged to spend $80 billion over the next decade to help reduce the cost of drugs for seniors and pay for a portion of Obama's health care legislation.

The deal was struck with Sen. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as well as the White House.

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?The pharmaceutical industry's offer to split the cost for drugs inside the coverage gap would mark the biggest change in the law since it was passed in 2003 and implemented in 2006. It's part of a less detailed pledge by health industry leaders to reduce costs by $2 trillion over 10 years."

?Medicare recipients would get $30 billion?? (over 10 years)

?Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who negotiated the deal, hasn't said how the $50 billion would be saved or used.?

Above from:

+ Deal to cut drug costs could be boon for industry / USA TODAY

Health Care costs are soaring, health industry leaders pledge to reduce costs by $2 trillion?and so now this merely equates to the Pharmaceutical Industry pledging $3 billion annually?, to plug a hole in coverage????

WHAT???!!!

Here Read:

+ The Truth About Drug Companies / Mother Jones:

--?? Angell attacks major pharmaceutical industry -- whose top ten companies make more in profits than the rest of the Fortune 500 COMBINED??

+ Canadian Health Insurance: Lessons for the United States / Government Accountability Office (GAO):

--?If the universal coverage and single-payer features of the Canadian system were applied in the United States, the savings in administrative cost alone would be MORE THAN ENOUGH to finance insurance coverage for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured.?

+ Medical Bills Leading Cause of Bankruptcy, Harvard Study Finds / Consumeraffairs.com

--?Surprisingly, most of those bankrupted by illness had health insurance.?

Universal Health Care has been implemented by ALL other developed countries!!!

Why not Universal Health Care with a $25 deductible after the first annual visit?

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This is wonderful. This 80 billion will go a long way in covering the 1.6 trillion dollar cost of Ayatolla Obama's health care plan.

This is second only to the %17 billion in savings the Master found when he went over the federal budget line by line.

CHANGE WE CAN BELEIVE IN IS HAPPENING RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES.