Shot/Chaser

SHOT: PhRMA CEO Warns Pelosi Bill To Lower Drug Prices Would Be ‘Devastating’ For Industry [The Hill, 10/10/19]

CHASER: September 2019 Axios Analysis Found That The Health Care Industry Continued To “Rake In Record-Level Profits” In The Second Quarter, With Year-Over-Year Earnings Increasing By 23 Percent. “Big Pharma Remains The Cash King… Drug companies collected almost half of all health care profits despite generating less than 20% of industry revenue. 12 of the 16 most profitable companies in Q2 were pharmaceutical firms.” [Axios, 9/19/19]

SHOT: President Trump Unveiling “Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation’s Seniors” Executive Order Today [Jennifer Jacobs Twitter, 10/3/19]

CHASER: Trump Has Told Friends That Gutting Medicare Could Be A Fun “Second Term Project.” [Vanity Fair, 8/22/19]

SHOT: At Retreat This Weekend, House Republicans Pledge to Run Again On Repealing Health Care in 2020. “If Trump is reelected, the GOP recaptures the House and holds the Senate, the president and Republicans said they would try again to scrap the 2010 law that has provided coverage for tens of millions of Americans and ensured health care for those with preexisting medical conditions.” [Washington Post, 9/13/19]

CHASER: McCarthy Blames Republican Loss Of House Majority On GOP Health Care Bill. “Speaking privately to his donors, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy squarely blamed Republican losses in last year’s midterm elections on the GOP push to roll back health insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions — and in turn blamed his party’s right flank.” [Washington Post, 2/12/19]

SHOT: Cory Gardner Claimed In A Recent Interview That He’s In Favor Of Protections For Pre-Existing Conditions. “But what we can agree on is making sure people with pre-existing conditions have coverage, required coverage,” said Gardner on air. “That’s we are about. That’s what we’ll fight for and continue to succeed with. “We know that we can come together with better plan, a better policy, a better idea that works, that covers people with pre-existing conditions.” [Colorado Times Recorder, 8/26/19]

CHASER: Cory Gardner Voted For Every Health Care Repeal Effort During His Time In Congress That Gutted Protections For Millions Of Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions And Refuses To Condemn The Texas Lawsuit That Would Do The Same. 

• 2011: Gardner Voted For A Total Repeal Of The ACA. Gardner voted for The “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act” would have repealed all of the Affordable Care Act. [HR 2, Roll Call Vote #14, 1/19/11] 
• 2011: Gardner Voted To Repeal And Defund The ACA. Gardner voted for the fiscal 2012 budget that would have repealed and defunded the Affordable Care Act. [HCR 34, Roll Call Vote #277, 4/15/11] 
• 2013: Gardner Voted For A Total Repeal Of The ACA. Gardner voted for HR 45, an act “to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.” [HR 45, Roll Call Vote #154, 5/16/13] 
• 2015:  Gardner Voted To Repeal Most Of The ACA. Gardner voted for legislation that gutted the Affordable Care Act by eliminating the insurance exchanges and subsidies, and repealing the Medicaid expansion accepted by 30 states, including Colorado.  [HR 3762, Roll Call Vote #114, 12/3/15] 
• 2017: Gardner Voted For The Senate “Repeal And Delay” Plan. Gardner voted for Obamacare Repeal and Replacement Act was a Republican effort to repeal the ACA without a replacement.  Known as “repeal and delay,” the bill repealed major sections of the ACA, including the Medicaid expansion and premium tax credits, in 2020.  [HR 1628, Roll Call Vote #169, 7/26/17] 
• 2017: Gardner Voted For The Better Care Reconciliation Act. Gardner voted for the Better Care Reconciliation Act, which repealed and replaced the ACA.  [HR 1628, Roll Call Vote #168, 7/25/17] 

When Asked About The Texas Lawsuit To Repeal The ACA, Gardner Refused To Condemn It: “What I Hope Succeeds Is This Place Getting Together To Find A Way To Drive Down Healthcare Costs.” [@PeterSullivan4, 12/18/18]

SHOT: Republican Insurance Officials In Florida Tried To Claim That Medicaid Expansion Would Harm The ACA Marketplace. State officials told economists that expanding Medicaid would have a “very large impact” on the Affordable Care Act marketplace that serves 1.8 million Floridians. According to Politico, an analysis by OIR Deputy Commissioner Craig Wright claims that about 600,000 individuals would likely transition from marketplace coverage to Medicaid, and this would result in lower federal subsidies and disrupt the marketplace. [Politico, 8/6/19] 

CHASER: Evidence Shows That Medicaid Expansion Actually Lowers Premiums For Marketplace Enrollees. According to a 2016 report from the Office of The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), Medicaid expansion helps lower premiums for Marketplace enrollees: “we estimate that Marketplace premiums are about 7 percent lower in states that expanded Medicaid compared to those that have not done so yet.” [ASPE, 9/6/16]

SHOT: Republicans in the Senate Finance Committee, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, voted down an amendment that would give Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices. 

CHASER: An overwhelming majority of Americans – including vast majority of Iowans –  want Medicare to negotiate for drug prices. “A new poll from Public Policy Polling shows that 86% of Iowans, including 83% of Iowa Republicans and 81% of Iowans who voted for President Trump, would support legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate prescription prices with drug companies.” [Iowa Starting Line, 7/24/19]

SHOT: One Year Ago Today: Trump Claims Drug Companies Will Announce ‘Massive’ Price Cuts Soon. “President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he expects major drug companies to slash prices on their products in two weeks, but did not provide details on which companies would do so or how such reductions would be made.” [Reuters, 5/30/18, Dan Diamond Twitter, 5/30/19]

CHASER: The Price Of Prescription Drugs Has Continued To Increase In The Year Since Trump’s Announcement. “Drugs continue to get more expensive. During the first quarter of 2019, the average list price, the price set by the manufacturer, for all brand and generic drugs increased by 2.9%. Over 500 brand name medications saw a list price increase in January, 2019…The large number of drugs that increased in price by over 9.0% is not a coincidence. As the conversation regarding drug prices has heated up over the past couple of years, manufacturers have slowly taken a pledge to keep price increases below 10% annually—but they continue to push the limit and raise prices by 9.9%.” [GoodRx, 5/2/19]

SHOT: Big Pharma CEOs Take Home Some Of The Biggest Pay Packages. Health care executives take home the biggest pay packages, and pharmaceutical CEOs represented 11 of the 25 highest compensation amounts last year. The CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals led the pack, making $118 million. [Associated Press, 5/24/19; Axios, 5/16/19]

CHASER: Seniors’ Spending On Cancer Drugs Has Soared. Why? Though the Affordable Care Act closed the Medicare prescription drug donut hole, drug companies have increased prices, offsetting seniors’ savings. [Axios, 5/29/19]

CHASER: Big Drug Companies Shut Down Shareholder Proposals To Disclose Whether Higher Drug Prices Fuel Lavish Bonuses For Top Executives. “The shareholder proposals failed by large margins at AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Vertex. Each company vigorously opposed them…The proposals would have urged companies to create reports detailing ‘the extent to which risks related to public concern over drug pricing strategies’ are part of executives’ bonuses, if at all.” [Axios, 5/29/19]

• 2012: McSally Supported Repealing The ACA: “A Vote For Obamacare Is A Vote Against Small Business And A Vote Against Fiscal Responsibility.”  [Martha McSally for Congress Press Release, 7/11/12]
• 2015: McSally Voted For A Total Repeal Of The ACA. [HR 596, Roll Call Vote #58, 2/3/15]
• 2016: McSally Attacked “The Failed Top-Down Approach Of Obamacare” And Claimed It Was “Only Getting Worse.” [Martha McSally Facebook Post, 8/16/16]
• 2017: McSally Voted For AHCA. McSally voted for passage of the American Health Care Act. [HR 1628, Roll Call Vote #256, 5/4/17]
  • McSally Encouraged Her GOP Colleagues To “Get This Fucking Thing Done” And Repeal The ACA. [The Hill, 5/4/17]

• 2012: McSally Supported Repealing The ACA: “A Vote For Obamacare Is A Vote Against Small Business And A Vote Against Fiscal Responsibility.”  [Martha McSally for Congress Press Release, 7/11/12]
• 2015: McSally Voted For A Total Repeal Of The ACA. [HR 596, Roll Call Vote #58, 2/3/15]
• 2016: McSally Attacked “The Failed Top-Down Approach Of Obamacare” And Claimed It Was “Only Getting Worse.” [Martha McSally Facebook Post, 8/16/16]
• 2017: McSally Voted For AHCA. McSally voted for passage of the American Health Care Act. [HR 1628, Roll Call Vote #256, 5/4/17]
  • McSally Encouraged Her GOP Colleagues To “Get This Fucking Thing Done” And Repeal The ACA. [The Hill, 5/4/17]