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December 6, 2004
After spending four years selling out Americans' health care to HMO's and pharmaceutical giants, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson is off to reap the private sector rewards. Thompson resigned last week and as the Associated Press reports, Thompson's "connections" will "make him a very attractive addition to any corporation." Thompson's record at HHS confirms his usefulness to the corporations he represented over the years:
- Thompson's Medicare legislation hurt seniors and was a huge sop to the insurance and drug industries. The new law gets Medicare into the business of covering outpatient prescription drugs but prohibits the government from reducing costs by negotiating bulk rates – an estimated $139 billion savings to the drug industry over eight years. Corporations offering drug discount cards under the law are allowed to change their prices every week, while seniors are locked into a particular card each calendar year. The bill also included an extra $46 billion in subsidies to the insurance industry.
- Thompson blocked seniors from getting cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. During his tenure Thompson refused to certify the safety of Canadian drugs, effectively preventing widespread re-importation of cheaper drugs to the United States. Thompson's refusal to certify Canadian drugs is a huge boon to the pharmaceutical industry and a big slap to seniors who could save as much as 72 percent off the price of the most common medications.
- Five million more Americans fell into the ranks of the uninsured on Thompson's watch. Thompson will leave office with 45 million Americans lacking basic health insurance. But for Thompson, this is no cause for concern: "Even if you don't have health insurance, you are still taken care of in America. That certainly could be defined as universal coverage." This outrageous statement disregards ample evidence of the harm we all suffer from our health care crisis. The Institute of Medicine found that "18,000 unnecessary deaths occur each year because of lack of health insurance."
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
