SENATE: Rejects Drug Importation Amendment to Health Reform Bill
The Senate on Tuesday voted 51-48 to reject an amendment to the chamber’s health reform bill (HR 3590) that would have permitted the importation of lower-cost prescription medications from Canada and other foreign countries, Roll Call reports (Pierce/Drucker, Roll Call, 12/15). The amendment, by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), would have waived current restrictions on the importation of the medications by licensed companies and individuals for personal use. The amendment failed because a floor agreement reached prior to the debate on the bill requires that all amendments must have 60 votes to be approved.
According to CQ Today, Dorgan’s proposal previously received broad support as a stand-alone bill from Senate Democrats, including President Obama when he was a senator (Ethridge, CQ Today, 12/15). However, on Tuesday 24 Democrats who supported the bill in 2008 voted against the amendment, and 16 Republicans who previously had voted against the bill voted for the amendment. Roll Call reports that two GOP senators — Jim Bunning (Ky.) and John Ensign (Nev.) — switched their votes mid-vote from “aye” to “nay” when it appeared that the amendment would fall short of 60 votes (Roll Call, 12/15).
A compromise amendment offered by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), which would have permitted the importation of drugs if federal health authorities declared them safe, also failed by a 56-43 vote (Mundy, Wall Street Journal, 12/16). CQ Today reports that Lautenberg’s proposal drew the backing of the drug industry as well as 26 Democrats — including the chamber’s two independent senators — who might have been looking for some political cover to support some importation language without risking a major financial deal for the overall reform bill (Ethridge, CQ Today, 12/15).
According to the Los Angeles Times, rejection of the Dorgan amendment was a “crucial victory” for the Obama administration and Senate Democratic leadership, who over the summer reached an agreement with the pharmaceutical industry to provide $80 billion in cost savings to help fund reform legislation (Hook/Levey, Los Angeles Times, 12/16). According to the Wall Street Journal, several industry lobbyists and congressional staffers said that the agreement “included a private promise by the administration that it wouldn’t support importation.” The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the White House declined to verify or comment on the private deal, the Journal reports.
In recent weeks, administration officials, Democrats and drug industry officials opposed to the amendment expressed concerns about the risk to consumers because the safety of imported drugs could not be guaranteed. In addition, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg noted in a letter to senators that the amendment would be “logistically challenging” to implement (Wall Street Journal, 12/16).
Dorgan pushed for a vote on his amendment after the Congressional Budget Office reported that the proposal would generate as much as $19.4 billion in savings over 10 years through increased competition with drugmakers (Ethridge, CQ Today, 12/15). Supporters of the amendment also noted that the proposal would help consumers save at least $80 billion over the same period through greater and direct access to their medications from foreign and online retailers (Wall Street Journal, 12/16).
Senate Democrats Defeat Motion To Abolish Entire Bill
Meanwhile, the Senate on Tuesday also voted 45-54 to reject a motion that would have sent the reform bill back to the Senate Finance Committee with an order to include language that complies with one of Obama’s campaign pledges, CQ Today reports. The amendment, offered by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), would have required that the bill be revised to prohibit raising taxes on families whose annual income is up to $250,000 and on individuals whose annual income is less than $200,000.
However, the Senate voted 97-1 to adopt a counterproposal by Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) that stated that senators should reject any procedural maneuver that would raise taxes on middle-class families, “such as a motion to commit the pending legislation to the Committee on Finance.”
Baucus noted that the legislation under consideration would offer tax credits for families and small businesses and noted data from CBO’s cost projections. “This bill has a net tax cut. Over the next 10 years this bill will provide a total $338 billion in tax credits to help American families,” he said (Ethridge/Vadala, CQ Today, 12/15).
– Santosh Rao
Note: This is an abridged version of the story that appeared in American Health Line this morning. For complete access to the full version, plus all of AHL’s other stories and content, subscribe to AHL.
