Opponents of new Medicare reforms received far more in pharma contributions, claims report
pharmafile | July 11, 2016 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing |Â Â corporate donations, public citizenÂ
A new report has emerged highlighting the extent to which opponents and critics of the Obama administration’s reforms of Medicare Part B benefitted from significantly higher donations from the pharmaceutical and health products sector, than those who did not raise objections to the reforms.
The key findings of the report, which were compiled by not-for-profit group Public Citizen, show that the 310 representatives who either signed two letters of opposition, or were otherwise critical, of the proposed Medicare Part B demonstration project received a combined $7.24 million in contributions from the pharma and health products industry, with an average of $23,344 per representative.
In contrast, the 124 rank-and-file representatives who did not sign either letter received a combined $1.5 million, an average of $12,789 per representative. On average, this meant that those who opposed the reforms received 82% more from the pharmaceutical and health products industry, than those who didn’t, in 2016. The report also gives an individual breakdown of what each representative received.
Under the Part B program, the government reimburses the average sales price of a drug bought by doctors and hospitals, plus 6%. The new process, which is set to begin in the autumn, would pay doctors the average sales price, plus 2.5% and a flat fee of $16.80. While intended to provide greater payments for generics, there has been a rising backlash against the plans in the industry, and among doctors and patients groups.
The issue of donations from the pharmaceutical industry is quite a hot topic at the moment, in both the US and the UK. This month, a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services highlighted that doctors and hospitals received nearly $6.5 billion in research and speaking fees from pharma companies, biotech firms and medical device makers in 2015. Similarly, a new database designed to list the details of payments made to doctors, nurses and pharmacists, as well as other health professionals and healthcare organisations in the UK, was recently launched by the ABPI.
Sean Murray
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