In 1993 and 1994 the pharmaceutical industry fought against
nationalized health care. This time Big Pharma cut itself a
deal—offering a bit of a discount in return for a big increase
in insurance coverage and thus the number of pills expected
to be sold. As a result, the pharmaceutical
industry has become one of the strongest proponents of
“reform.”
And Big Pharma’s financial reward is likely to be
large.
Observes Jonathan Cohn:
Critics have complained that a drug industry got a sweetheart
deal when it struck a bargain with the White House and Senate
Finance Committee over health care reform.
There’s new reason to think those critics were right.
It comes from an October forecast by IMS Health, a respected global
research and consulting firm. The report, which IMS distributed
to clients and which a source provided, projects that the drug
industry will see average annual growth of 3.5 percent between
2008 and 2013.
Back in March, IMS had projected no growth at all during that
same five-year stretch. In fact, it projected the drug business
would actually contract slightly—with negative annual growth
of 0.01 percent.
What changed? A major factor, according to IMS, was the
emerging details of health care reform.
It is yet another example of how the greatest enemies
of capitalism tend to be the capitalists.
Only time will tell, however, whether proponents of government
control will live up to the deal. Or whether they
will turn on the industry as a convenient source of
financial savings when spending skyrockets, as it
will. If that happens, the rest of us should wave
cheerfully as Big Pharma finds itself transported to the
political guillotine.
