Chuck Schumer Loves Doing Big Pharma’s Bidding
Chuck Schumer has received more money from Big Pharma than any other Senator save one. The investment appears to be paying off, as Schumer just allowed an aide to kill a proposed cap on prescription drug prices.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to the crowd at the 2013 Iowa Democratic Party Jefferson Jackson Dinner in Des Moines, IA. (Gregory Hauenstein / Flickr)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) let a US Senate adviser kill key parts of Democrats’ promised drug pricing legislation, as Schumer has become the Senate’s second-largest recipient of pharmaceutical industry cash.
On Saturday, the Senate’s parliamentary adviser, Elizabeth MacDonough — who Schumer can remove — issued a nonbinding advisory opinion saying Democrats should remove provisions in their spending bill that would punish drugmakers for inflating their prices for patients in private health insurance plans. The provision could have saved $40 billion, according to one estimate.
“The exclusion of the private insurance price limits means there is little left that will reduce costs for the vast majority of Americans who receive health insurance through their private sector employer,” reported Politico.
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