KFF roundup: News stories and opinion pieces on proposed Part D reforms and other health care issues

Via the Kaiser Family Foundation:  Newspapers recently published editorials andopinion pieces on health care issues included in the Democratic agendafor the 110th Congress. Summaries appear below.

  Editorials 
 

• Chicago Sun-Times:The Democratic agenda includes a number of “worthy items” — such aslegislation that would reduce restrictions on federal funding forembryonic stem cell research and require the HHSsecretary to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on pricesfor medications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit — butwhether those bills should “be at the top of the list” is questionable,a Sun-Times editorial states. The editorial states thatPresident Bush likely would veto the stem cell research bill. Inaddition, the editorial questions the need “to have the federalgovernment negotiate drug prices now, since most Medicare recipientssay they are satisfied with the way the new Medicare drug plan works” (Chicago Sun-Times, 1/4).
• New York Times: Increasing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, authorizing HHSto negotiate with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicareprescription drug benefit and other legislation included in the HouseDemocratic leadership’s agenda for the first 100 hours of the 110thCongress “are all commendable goals, … [b]ut what is sorely lackingis the oft-invoked, more often abused ideal of bipartisanship –despite the Democrats’ campaign pledge to end the practice ofrelegating minority lawmakers to the legislative wilderness,” a Timeseditorial states. “Of necessity, perhaps, the new Senate majorityleader, Harry Reid (D-Nev.), is making a considerable show of promisingto reach across the aisle,” the editorial states. In addition, HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “promises bipartisanship will be inevidence after the Democrats get past their opening agenda,” accordingto the editorial. The editorial concludes, “If Democratic candidateswere smart enough during the campaign to realize that voters demandbipartisanship, they should be quick enough to try it from the start” (New York Times, 1/7). 

  Opinion Pieces   

• Mike King, Atlanta Journal-Constitution:”Democrats and Republicans in the new Congress have widely divergentviews about the best way to improve access to health insurance foradults,” but they “should come together quickly and renew” the SCHIPprogram, editor Mike King writes in a Journal-Constitutionopinion piece. “Without an infusion of money from the state orCongress, the program will have to cut eligibility or severely curtailthe services covered by the plan” he writes, adding, “The cost ofrenewing the program is relatively small compared to what it will costif these children return to the ranks of the uninsured” (King, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/4).

• Yong Suh, Baltimore Sun:A bill proposed by Democrats that would require the HHS secretary tonegotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on prices formedications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit “not onlycould fail to deliver the Democrats’ promise to close the ‘doughnuthole'” but also could “stifle new drug discovery and harm multiplesectors of the economy,” Suh, a former Marshall Scholar in biomedicalresearch at Oxford University who is employed in the finance industry, writes in a Sunopinion piece. “The government would make a poor negotiator comparedwith private-sector pharmacy benefit managers that have negotiated drugprices for two decades,” he writes, adding, “Medicare lacks theinfrastructure, a working formulary of drugs, the experience and themanagement capabilities necessary to compete against PBMs innegotiating drug prices” (Suh, Baltimore Sun, 1/5)
• Grace-Marie Turner, Houston Chronicle:Democrats plan to “fix” the Medicare prescription drug benefit with abill that would require the HHS secretary to negotiate directly withpharmaceutical companies on prices for medications under the program,despite a recent announcement by CMS that the program “came insignificantly under budget, costing about 30% less than expected,”Turner, president of the Galen Institute, writes in a Chronicleopinion piece. The Medicare prescription drug benefit is a “rare”federal program that is “both successful and under budget,” she writes,adding, “Instead of trying to revamp it, Congress should apply the PartD model to other government programs” (Turner, Houston Chronicle, 1/4).
• Victor Fazio, Washington Post:A proposal by House Democrats that would reduce restrictions on federalfunding for embryonic stem cell research “is the quintessentialexample” of how House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) agenda for thefirst 100 hours of the 110th Congress “is less about radical policyshifts than about bringing policy in line with what Democrats believeis common wisdom to Americans,” former Rep. Fazio (D-Calif.), a senioradviser at Akin Gump, writes in a Post opinion piece. “Ofcourse, no matter how carefully Pelosi has selected the issues for herfirst 100 hours, the legislation will not necessarily steamroll throughCongress unquestioned,” Fazio writes, adding that President Bush mightonce again veto legislation on stem cells. He adds, “[I]f the speakercan shepherd her initiatives through Congress, she will haveestablished herself and her Democratic caucus as advocates for themiddle class as well as the poor — and her party as one that keeps itsword” (Fazio, Washington Post, 1/7).