PHRMA

Why Health Care Reform? Why Now?
 
America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies support comprehensive health care reform, guaranteeing that every American has access to high-quality, affordable health care coverage and services. We consider it a moral and economic imperative that health reform gets done this year. 

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America is going to get sicker and poorer and less competitive with the world if we sit on the sidelines and get nothing accomplished this year.  In fact, the impact of lost workdays and lower employee productivity because of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, resulted in an annual economic loss in America of $1 trillion, according to Milken.
 
Prescription medicines only represent a small portion of total health care spending in the U.S. – only 10 percent – and they play a key role in lowering overall health care costs by keeping patients, particularly those suffering from chronic diseases, out of the hospital.  For example, one study predicted that improving the use of blood pressure-lowering medicines would result in 89,000 fewer deaths and 420,000 fewer hospitalizations annually – a more than $15 billion a year reduction in health care costs.
 
To help ensure health care reform moves forward this year, biopharmaceutical research companies have made a commitment to the White House and the Senate Finance Committee to help most seniors who are affected by Medicare Part D’s coverage gap.  As part of our policy agreement, to be incorporated into health reform legislation, biopharmaceutical research companies will provide a 50 percent discount for brand-name prescription drugs in the coverage gap for most seniors and disabled.  It is also considered an important down payment toward the total health care reform price tag. 
 
Make no mistake, our agreement of $80 billion is significant and will result in real savings for seniors. 
 
While we support reform, we believe that it should not come at the expense of medical progress; it should not sacrifice patient health; and it should not resort to price controls, which would restrict patient access to vital health care services and kill jobs in a fragile economy. 
 
Health care reform, if done right, will be a huge and substantial step toward covering the Americans who are not already covered and changing the course of health care in America towards real prevention and disease management, rather than just damage control.  Too often, we get to the patient after the damage from disease has already been done. 
 
For all of these reasons, is it critical – now, more than ever – that we transform our sick-care system to a 21st Century health care system that helps patients more effectively fight disease and live longer, healthier and more productive lives.

Watch Billy Tauzin on CNBC's Squawk Box

Listen to NPR's Morning Edition interview with Billy Tauzin

Read Billy Tauzin's post in the NY Times business blog on controlling chronic diseases