{"id":2023018,"date":"2023-09-06T03:55:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T07:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-truths-debunking-democrats-narrative-about-prescription-drug-negotiations\/"},"modified":"2023-09-06T04:00:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T08:00:17","slug":"3-truths-debunking-democrats-narrative-about-prescription-drug-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-truths-debunking-democrats-narrative-about-prescription-drug-negotiations\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Truths Exposing Democrats&#8217; False Claims on Prescription Drug &#8216;Negotiations&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F3-truths-debunking-democrats-narrative-about-prescription-drug-negotiations%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2023018&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Here\u2019s a \u2062Washington truism: Whenever Democrats hold a \u200d\u201ccelebration\u201d on health care, you can all but guarantee the event means the government is taking greater control. (For that matter, this axiom holds true for Republicans in far too many cases.)<\/p>\n<p>So it proved just before the holiday weekend, when the federal Centers for \u200dMedicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/about\/news\/2023\/08\/29\/hhs-selects-the-first-drugs-for-medicare-drug-price-negotiation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">released<\/a> the list of the first 10 drugs \u200dover which it will \u201cnegotiate\u201d prices with drug companies over the course of the next year. The \u201cnegotiation\u201d provisions, which are scheduled \u200dto take effect in January 2026, were part \u200bof last year\u2019s Inflation \u201cReduction\u201d Act. And as with most programs\u200b the left claims will create a\u2063 socialist paradise, there\u2019s more to it than meets\u200c the eye.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1381033140\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6bfd0178fb2d6e53ae7ade0ee668628d fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6bfd0178fb2d6e53ae7ade0ee668628d\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The \u2018Negotiations\u2019 Are Rigged<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the name of the program, the \u201cnegotiation\u201d will prove anything but. The statute explicitly defines a \u201cmaximum fair price\u201d \u2014 defining\u2062 the outcome before the \u201cnegotiations\u201d even begin.<\/p>\n<p>Under the \u200dlaw, the \u201cmaximum fair price\u201d is set from 40-75 percent of current price \u2062levels, depending upon how long the drug has been on the market. Companies who refuse to participate in this process\u200c have only one of two options: They can face taxes of <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfoundation.org\/blog\/prescription-drug-pricing-reform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">up to 1,900 percent<\/a> of the revenue\u2064 of the product(s) in question \u2014 or they can drop out of the Medicare and Medicaid programs entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats had to structure \u2064the program this \u200cway for two reasons: First, the rhetoric of \u201cnegotiations\u201d sounds more appealing to the public than the phrase \u201csocialist price controls,\u201d which is what this program amounts to in practice.\u200c Second, the Congressional Budget Office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/108th-congress-2003-2004\/reports\/fristletter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has long held<\/a> that government-run \u201cnegotiations\u201d would not achieve any \u200cadditional budgetary savings without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/110th-congress-2007-2008\/reports\/drugpricenegotiation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some type of cudgel<\/a> to compel additional concessions.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the program\u200c represents a \u201cnegotiation\u201d \u2064in the same way a robber \u201cnegotiates\u201d \u200bwith employees at the bank. And the coercive element could lead the \u2064entire program to a date with \u200bthe Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ee812d50a212becd3b7e885169f12f7d fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ee812d50a212becd3b7e885169f12f7d\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The \u2063Program\u2019s Constitutionality\u200c Is in Question<\/h2>\n<p>Over \u2064the past\u200d several weeks, drug manufacturers and other business groups have filed eight separate lawsuits against the\u200b program \u200bin various jurisdictions \u2064across the country. While\u2063 Merck <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/09\/pharmaceutical-files-complaint-against-bidens-drug-negotiations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed the first suit<\/a>, they all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lack-of-chinese-transparency-was-ultimate-source-of-death-in-pandemic-expert-tells-house-republicans\/\" title=\"\u2018Lack Of Chinese Transparency\u2019 Was Ultimate \u2018Source Of Death\u2019 In Pandemic, Expert Tells House Republicans\">make similar claims<\/a>, alleging that the program violates the Fifth Amendment by taking property\u2062 (i.e.,\u200d patents and intellectual property) without due compensation, the Eighth Amendment by levying excessive fines, and the\u2064 First Amendment\u2019s guarantee of free speech by\u200b compelling them to agree that CMS is offering a \u201cfair\u201d price.<\/p>\n<p>Legal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/markets\/analysis-drugmakers-could-find-sympathetic-us-supreme-court-in-drug-pricing-lawsuits\/ar-AA1g3vIh\">experts disagree<\/a> as to whether the claims will get traction in federal\u200d court; no rulings have yet been\u2062 issued. \u200cBut it\u2019s entirely possible\u200b the Supreme Court will hear arguments on one or \u200cmore of\u200d these cases\u2062 before \u2063the program goes into effect more than two years\u200c from now.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Democrats Ensured the Savings Won\u2019t Help Medicare<\/h2>\n<p>Democrats have often used the Medicare program <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/democrats-use-medicare-as-a-piggy-bank-11616624520\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">as a\u2063 piggy bank<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2012\/08\/14\/romneys-right-obamacare-cuts-medicare-by-716-billion-heres-how\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raiding it<\/a> by more than $700 billion more than a decade ago to \u200bfund Obamacare. They repeated the trick last year, using <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/19\/democrats-plan-to-snatch-medicare-dollars-from-seniors-to-subsidize-their-rich-friends\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hundreds of billions of dollars<\/a> in Medicare \u201csavings\u201d to pay for other provisions of the Inflation \u201cReduction\u201d Act.<\/p>\n<p>Medicare is already <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/10\/fact-check-medicare-is-already-functionally-insolvent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">functionally insolvent<\/a>, and its Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be officially exhausted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/oact\/tr\/2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">within a\u200c decade<\/a>. Yet Democrats used all the Medicare savings from drug \u201cnegotiation\u201d and other price controls \u200cto fund things \u2063like subsidies for Teslas and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/29\/build-back-better-bill-would-fund-86000-additional-irs-agents-to-sic-on-american-taxpayers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">87,000 new IRS employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-96908e9bb139bcfeb06873f4f9653b2d fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-96908e9bb139bcfeb06873f4f9653b2d\"><\/div>\n<p>Using Medicare\u200c dollars to fund climate pork doesn\u2019t help seniors one bit. \u2064But then again, helping seniors isn\u2019t the left\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-truths-debunking-democrats-narrative-about-prescription-drug-negotiations\/\" title=\"3 Truths Exposing Democrats' False Claims on Prescription Drug 'Negotiations'\">primary agenda \u2014 increasing dependence<\/a> is. \u200bAnd that\u2019s the\u200b ultimate objective of \u2062the drug \u201cnegotiation\u201d program, not to mention the Inflation \u201cReduction\u201d Act \u2063as a whole.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3dd281f4344f2234949c00994caf5045 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3dd281f4344f2234949c00994caf5045\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whenever Democrats celebrate health care, it usually means more government control. Sadly, this also applies to Republicans in many cases. Just before the holiday weekend, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced new regulations, reinforcing this truism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2023019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2023018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2023018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2023019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2023018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2023018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2023018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}