Trump’s Draft Executive Order on Big Pharma isn’t the remedy the Public needs!

There has been a draft release Executive Order without a date, but planned for June 2017 by the Trump Administration. The United States Government and soon the American Health Care Act (AHCA) or the Trump Care is run through the Senate after the amendments for the law after the vote in the Representatives House. So it seems like the Trump Administration trying to patch the ill-will and the gained reputation for draconian laws with a medicine and a remedy. Still, if people cannot afford health care plans or afford health-care insurance, what help is in making medicine and pills cheaper. When you cannot afford to get to the doctor, what help is that the pills and medicine cost less. Needs help from the doctor to find the needed treatment. That is simple, but forgotten math by the Republicans and the Congress these days. Not like President Trump understands that, unless tanning became more expensive for him.

While we’re at it, let’s look into major quotes from the Draft Executive Order:

“Section 1 Policy:

b) Reduce burdens caused by regulatory and administrative actions that inflate or distort prices for beneficiaries of Federal health programs or that provide more favorable pricing for intermediate actors in the medical product supply chain than the prices available to beneficiaries” (Executive Order, 2017).

So the Trump Administration plans to put down the prices and control the prices of medicine. It is special that the Administration cares about the Federal Health Programs, when the new TrumpCare laws want to relief the state of Medicaid and other supplementary subsidized programs through the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA) or ObamaCare. Health Care News Emily Kopp: “This probably refers to the 340B program, which provides hospitals that serve low-income patients with a discount on intravenous drugs, anti-nausea drugs for cancer patients and some other outpatient drugs. Donald Trump’s interagency working group on drug prices has weighed scaling back the 340B program, KHN reported earlier this month. Critics say the discounts don’t truly benefit patients, including PhRMA, the influential pharmaceutical lobby” (Kopp, 2017). Certainly, the repeal will make sure these sort of programs get phased out as well as the pricing on the Health Care plans that the citizens has to get through insurance companies. But this draft plans to take it further do.

“c) Facilitate, where appropriate, the ability of Federal health programs to enter into reimbursement arrangements for medical products that are based on the value of such products to patients rather than the volume of such products purchased” (Executive Order, 2017).

That the State will have value-based pricing, which means that the States and Federal Government have decided prices depending on the needs and than that the patients has to cover the cost of the medicine. Which is a nice idea, but I am skeptical as before, since the reality doesn’t change, even if the State and Federal Government can control the buying-in and the prices of it. The rising prices of insurance under new law will not be helped by this remedy. Neither is this too.

“d) Ensure that the laws intended to help lower-income or vulnerable Americans and strengthen the safety net healthcare providers that serve them are carried out in such a way, that the benefits of such programs accrue primarily to the intended populations, including by the rescinding or revising of regulatory or administrative actions” (Executive Order, 2017).

This here is main reason for it in a way, if the Trump Administration did care, but if they though the world works like that and these provisions would change the ways of buying-in and research of medicine would change. Still, Health Care News Emily Kopp says this: “This probably refers to the 340B program, which provides hospitals that serve low-income patients with a discount on intravenous drugs, anti-nausea drugs for cancer patients and some other outpatient drugs. Donald Trump’s interagency working group on drug prices has weighed scaling back the 340B program, KHN reported earlier this month. Critics say the discounts don’t truly benefit patients, including PhRMA, the influential pharmaceutical lobby” (Kopp, 2017).

Again, Trump Presidency has to be self involved and not understanding the world order, therefore, this had to be inside the EO: “e) Ensure that American citizens do not disproportionately subsidize medical product innovation for the rest of the world, or allow foreign governments to unfairly devalue American innovation” (Executive Order, 2017). Again, let me quote Emily Kopp: “The Trump administration is making the implicit argument that longer monopoly rights for drugs and higher drug costs in foreign markets will lead to lower prices in the U.S. Not so, according to James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International” (Kopp, 2017). So, in Alice in Wonderland, this sort of provision might work, even in Narnia, but I am sure it has the same effect as Wall towards Mexico or the sudden love for Solar Panel on the wall, which is insane in it self. That Trump Administration believes in this wouldn’t surprise anyone and that Sean Spicer would defend it would be field day for journalists.

Las piece of the Executive Order, that I will put forward is this one: “f) Rescind, revise or simplify regulations and other administrative actions that inappropriately or unfairly contribute to higher prices or cost-sharing for medical products for American patients” (Executive Order, 2017). Just as before, kind of hard to get lower prices if the repealing of Obama-Care law gets into effect. It like thinking you get lower cost, when the insurance sky-rockets and the 1 percent of American citizens get a giant tax-break. The relief again would only suit the ones without already hard-earned pockets, the rich would earn more and the R&D of medical suppliers would secure more funding. This would not earn the citizens in the United States.

This is maybe why this law hasn’t been signed and hasn’t been enacted, as the Senate are working on their bill and this would counter it. Secondly, the lesser prices for medicines wouldn’t help the provisions in the new Health Care law. United States would really be a place for the wealthy and the poor would suffer more. That is reality of the Health Care bill that the Senate are putting forward. This Executive Order wouldn’t help, but be a field day for the Big Pharma to get new system for subsidized medicine, so the people wouldn’t feel this. Unless, the Health Care plans inside the Senate bill would actually serve the public and not just the wealthy. Peace.

Reference:

Donald J. Trump – ‘Executive Order – REDUCING THE COST OF MEDICAL PRODUCTS AND ENHANCING AMERICAN BIOMEDICAL INNOVATION’ (Draft Paper for June 2017).

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Opinion: Repealing ObamaCare proves that Trump’s America is morally and financially bankrupt!

The United States of America must be bankrupt, broke and in ill fatigue because it cannot afford to insure millions of citizens through medical insurance. At least that is the new report from Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the new TrumpCare Act that Paul Ryan spoke so nicely about like it was a genuine idea from one of his donors.

This act of repealing and changing ObamaCare or the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) is not because the Republican Party cares about the health of the United States Citizens. It is clear by the numbers that they want the health care industry and the ones selling insurance to earn more bucks on the ones who aren’t healthy and add higher price tag on their premiums.

Look at the numbers:

“CBO and JCT estimate that, in 2018, 14 million more people would be uninsured under the legislation than under current law” (…) “Later, following additional changes to subsidies for insurance purchased in the nongroup market and to the Medicaid program, the increase in the number of uninsured people relative to the number under current law would rise to 21 million in 2020 and then to 24 million in 2026. The reductions in insurance coverage between 2018 and 2026 would stem in large part from changes in Medicaid enrollment—because some states would discontinue their expansion of eligibility, some states that would have expanded eligibility in the future would choose not to do so, and per-enrollee spending in the program would be capped. In 2026, an estimated 52 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law” (CBO, P: 2, 2017).

So who cares about the trillions of dollars possibly saved? Certainly when the nation is so poor that it cannot secure possible health care for such amount of people. I know I proclaimed that Trump could create a Banana Republic back in November 2016. These sorts of act of injustice to millions of citizens as the state’s poverty levels are so the minority of rich can get cheap premium insurance. The others are the already healthy who can afford under the new law. Certainly this will be more costly on the ones that need insurance and the ones that is sick and need it. So if you have preconditions before signing up you are likely to pay more. This whole scheme is so the already expensive health care system can benefit more from the citizens, while the Republican government can spend more on bullets and guns. Such, wealthy and rich countries do.

It is sick and uncommon that a government wish to see more of their citizens not having the ability to get treatment and afford it. Usually it would do whatever it could to drastically make it better, if the government and the republic cared about its citizens. Apparently the Congress, the Representatives and the local government of United States, doesn’t care about the citizens and their well-being.

We can rest assured with every move President Trump does, it getting close to an America, where the Banana’s will go grow quicker. Especially, when we are considering the lack of insurance for such amount of millions that would have under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or the ObamaCare. The new America Health Care Act will hurt many people and most likely make the difference between the rich and poor even bigger.

So with the knowledge of the already rising gap between citizens, Trump’s America seems to look to make it bigger:

“The wealth disparity between upper and middle income Americans has hit a record high, according to a new Pew Research Center Report. On average, today’s upper-income families are almost seven times wealthier than middle-income ones, compared to 3.4 times wealthier in 1984. When compared to lower income family wealth, upper income family wealth is 70 times larger” (Salles, 2014).

That the wealth gap and riches is now enormous, it seems out of this world that they cannot afford to pay more in Medicaid to secure more people getting treatment. Since the rich can own bunch of cars and giant mansions, but cannot afford to pay extra tax to the IRS. That shows how poor the solidarity in the United States is. The individual can by all means take cares of only their own and the collective burden isn’t important.

Therefore, the Republic is really poor when they cannot have the funds or the laws to reassure their citizens. The people are morally poor when the riches cannot pay a little extra to help the ones in need. So the United State is doubly bankrupt and they have a reality star running the show. Surely, the losing end is the ones who is poor and the ones on the lower end of the trailing middle-class; the only one earning on Trumps America is the wealthy. They will win on this; the rest is out goose hunting. Peace.

Reference:

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE – ‘American Health Care Act Budget Reconciliation Recommendations of the House Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce, March 9, 2017’ (13.03.2017)

Salles, Joaquim Moreira – ‘The Wealth Gap Between Rich And Poor Is The Widest Ever Recorded’ (18.12.2014) link: https://thinkprogress.org/the-wealth-gap-between-rich-and-poor-is-the-widest-ever-recorded-6e9579966adf#.s82a0l91l