But the original was “since” LBJ not comparing to LBJ
My point is that the presidents since LBJ have been so modest in their legislative achievements that they are hardly worth discussing.
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Massive transformative legislative changes like under LBJ or FDR are not really the norm.
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Anyway…
Woohoo on negotiating drug prices.
Way to go Ds.
There’s not a lot of victories that we can mostly agree about, but this sounds like a great exception. (Assuming it actually happens.)
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This was great to see: Medicare finally given the power to do what major drug purchasers in the rest of the world have long been doing. This may be what Biden will be most fondly remembered for by many folks.
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Many of the pharmaceutical companies’ deceptive ads against this legislation aired here. My favourite was them trying to scare seniors over the “billions of dollars that would be taken out of healthcare spending” as a result. Uh yes, because drugs would simply cost the system less!
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Only the drug companies and their shareholders should be unhappy. They will do everything possible to sabotage it even though it is a fairly modest piece of legislation (but camel’s nose concerns….).
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I imagine that politicians that receive significant political contributions from the drug companies might also be unhappy at the threat to their expected future cash flows.
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There is some interesting stuff in the details of the bill that the Dems just pushed through the Senate.
Biden had been talking for some time about providing a tax credit for buying electric cars but only if they were 100% made in the US. This was impractical given the nature of sourcing parts for automobiles and could also be an illegal subsidy under the North American free trade agreement (but that has never been an obstacle for previous Presidents as these contraventions take years to be ruled upon).
The Canadians and Mexicans protested heavily against the US-manufactured only requirement for electric vehicle credits so I was pleased to see that the final version of the bill more broadly provides these credits to North American-sourced vehicles.
Biden gets my vote for best legislator since LBJ. 
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Lots of big changes to Part D coverage coming. Means I am going to be a busy little bee for the next few years. I’ll get to keep paying taxes.
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So, it appears that they will basically take drugs and sort descending by aggregate CMS spend, and start with the top ten and work down the list over the coming years. I combined Part B and Part D and here are the top ten, with 2020 agg spend (2021 doesn’t seem available yet).
- Eliquis: $9.9B (blood clots)
- Revlamid: $5.3B - a generic lenalidomide is rolling out now so there may not be much meat here, but in 2020 it was $794.33 per pill, and it’s taken once daily (certain hematologic cancers)
- Xarelto: $4.7B (blood clots)
- Januvia: $3.9B (type 2 diabetes)
- Keytruda: $3.5B - this one’s $10k per month (solid tumors)
- Trulicity: $3.3B (type 2 diabetes)
- Eylea: $3.0B (macular degeneration and other eye ailments)
- Imbruvica: $3.0B - $392 per pill (cancer)
- Lantus Solostar: $2.6B (insulin)
- Jardiance: $2.4B (type 2 diabetes)
Did not know how big the market was for blood thinners, or however the anti-clotting drugs work nowadays. Then you’ve got cancer and diabetes drugs, no surprises there. So if I did that right we’re talking $42B of annual spend for the top ten drugs. So I’d ballpark savings of about $10B per year. For ten drugs that’s not bad.
Anywho, just spitballing with some numbers here.
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Interesting list. I’ve seen ads for six of the ten on tv recently.
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Ooh, that’s a fun anecdote. I only stream things, so I almost never see commercials. I’m surprised, although perhaps I shouldn’t be, pharma spends a LOT on marketing.
I only see the prescription drug ads on US tv channels as direct-to-consumer ads for prescription drugs are generally prohibited under Canada’s Food and Drugs Regulation. The US ads are a bit scary with their mandatory disclosures on potential side-effects.
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Is jardiance the one that can cause fungal rot to the perineum or something like that?
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Yup.
In rare cases, a serious infection called necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum (the area between and around your genitals and anus) has been reported in people who took Jardiance.
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Damn, I forgot about that one. Your diabetes will get better, but your taint will rot and fall off
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Hope I never have to use Jardiance because I would worry constantly about the potential fungal rot!
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Can’t imagine that the FDA would ever ban the big drug companies from advertising on US tv. One way or the other the drug companies would torpedo any such attempted prohibition.
i have asked every time i see the ad how good a drug must be to risk a tear to the taint
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