-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
In Illinois, two bills before the General Assembly, HB 3350 and SB 3727, aim to keep big pharma from cutting hospitals, clinics and pharmacies out of the federal discount program. The proposals are nearly identical to bills in other states that have either passed or are in the middle of debate.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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It’s interesting that the hospitals essentially agree that they are doing what they are accused of doing–providing the 340b drugs to people with private insurance (rather than Medicaid or indigent programs). What this means is that employer plans won’t be able to get a rebate on those drugs (because effectively the purchase discount the hospital received accounts for the rebate) so they are cost shifting to employers who pay the contracted rate for the 340b drug that was dispensed but earn no rebates from the manufacturer. This increases the employer’s cost of providing those drugs to employees and their families.… Read more »