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https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/big-pharma/

Dozens of vulnerable House Democrats are worried that the party's stalled spending negotiations with Joe Manchin will cost them seats in the midterms — and hand Congress to the Republicans

Democrats planned to include legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, fulfilling a campaign promise that helped them win control of the House in the "blue wave" of 2018, as part of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation. The plan ran into an expensive lobbying blitz from the pharmaceutical industry, prompting Democrats to significantly water down the bill to limit the number of drugs Medicare could negotiate amid pushback from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and other industry-aligned Democrats –– and that was before Manchin blew up the Build Back Better package entirely.

"We cannot overstate the paramount urgency of fulfilling the promise of lowering drug prices now for the American people," a group of 40 House Democrats, led by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., said in a letter to party leaders on Monday.

The letter came after pharmaceutical companies hiked prices on hundreds of medications to start the year. A recent report from the patient advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs found that drug companies have increased prices on more than 550 drugs, including 183 drugs whose prices were raised by $100 or more, and 118 drugs that now cost more than $5,000. Pfizer alone raised prices on 125 drugs, more than any company, even as it shattered profit records thanks to $36 billion in sales from its widely-used COVID vaccine.

"Even as we enter the third year of a pandemic, Big Pharma continues its practice of targeting American patients and consumers with price increases, completely undeterred by the financial and health challenges facing American families," David Mitchell, the founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs, said in a statement.

"Drug corporations can do this because we let them — unlike other nations that use their purchasing power to get a better deal," said Mitchell, who suffers from an incurable blood cancer that is treated with a cocktail of drugs carrying a list price of more than $900,000 per year. The original drug-pricing agreement in the Build Back Better Act, he said, "would curb rising drug prices for millions of patients and halt abusive annual price hikes by limiting increases to the rate of inflation, which is projected to return to 2.3 percent in 2023."

Election forecasts generally suggest that Democrats will lose control of the House in the midterms, making the popular drug legislation a key priority, especially after Manchin and Sinema effectively killed off several other popular Democratic proposals, including a rollback of the Trump-era tax cuts, an extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit, and paid family leave.

A Data for Progress poll last fall found that likely voters support the Medicare legislation by a 55-point margin, including 83% of Democrats, 71% of independents, and 65% of Republicans.

"Taking action on prescription drugs is one of the most popular political issues Democrats can pursue — it's overwhelmingly supported by a bipartisan majority of voters," Sean McElwee, the founder and executive director of Data for Progress, said in an email. "Democrats need to take every opportunity to lower costs for voters and deliver popular legislation that visibly improves their lives this November."

Manchin, who walked away from Build Back Better negotiations in December after the White House called him out by name in a statement over the bill's delay, said on Tuesday that the Build Back Better bill is "dead" and any negotiations on potential spending programs would have to start from scratch. Biden has said that he hopes to include "chunks" of the original bill in a potential compromise package with Manchin.

Last year, Manchin said he supported the drug-price legislation, calling it the "one thing that should be done for sure." But the West Virginia senator appears to be prioritizing bipartisan negotiations to reform the Electoral Count Act over any would-be spending bill, leaving a key Democratic campaign promise in limbo.

"President Biden supports this plan. We support this plan," the House Democratic group said in their letter. "Every Democratic member of the U.S. Senate supports this plan. And most importantly, the American people support this plan. It is time to enact it into law. Already this year, drug corporations have raised prices on more than 400 drugs. Action can't happen soon enough to make medicines more affordable for the millions who need them."

The price increases came after the pharmaceutical lobby shattered its own record for lobbying spending as it rallied around the cause of defeating Biden's legislation. Democrats like Sinema andRep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., two of the biggest recipients of Big Pharma donations, led an effort to cut the number of drugs that could be negotiated by Medicare. Even so, the compromise legislation would save taxpayers an estimated $80 billion while capping price increases on certain medications, capping out-of-pocket costs for seniors, and capping the cost of insulin at $35 for people on Medicare and on private plans.

Medicare is the only government agency that is barred from negotiating bulk pricing discounts — the result of an infamous scheme hatched by Big Pharma lobbyists and a Republican leader who rammed the provision into a bill that required Medicare to cover the cost of prescription drugs, shortly before he left Congress and became the top lobbyist for the industry. A three-year investigation by the House Oversight and Reform Committee last month found that pharmaceutical companies exploit the Medicare program to boost revenues, noting that taxpayers could have saved more than $25 billion over five years if Medicare was allowed to negotiate the cost of just seven popular drugs such as Humira and Lyrica.

The investigation also found that drug companies "aggressively raise prices" to hit revenue targets and incentives for executives and have targeted the U.S. market for higher prices while keeping costs lower overseas. The report also concluded that drug companies "abuse the patent system" to suppress competition and maintain monopoly pricing. Drug companies contend that their huge profits are necessary to fund research and development, but the investigation found that the 14 leading drug companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends over just five years, $56 billion more than they spent on research and development over that same period.

The limited Medicare negotiation bill approved by the House last year would allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of 20 popular drugs and dozens of insulin products used by 8.5 million Medicare beneficiaries,according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, although many of the drugs with the highest Medicare spending would be exempt.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus, which pushed for a more expansive bill that would have saved taxpayers an estimated $450 billion over 10 years but ultimately agreed to back the scaled-down version, set a target date of March 1 to pass the revised spending plan ahead of Biden's State of the Union address.

"This is both achievable and necessary,"CPC Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said in a statement, noting that in the weeks since negotiations had stalled out, "the case for this legislation has only become more urgent."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Peters_(politician)

scott Harvey Peters (born June 17, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative from California's 52nd congressional district since 2013.[2] His district includes both coastal and central portions of San Diego, as well as the suburbs of Poway and Coronado.[3]

A member of the Democratic Party, Peters served two terms on the San Diego City Council from 2000 to 2008, and was the first person to hold the post of president of the city council (2006–2008). He also served as a commissioner for the Unified Port of San Diego before becoming a member of Congress.

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Early life, education, and legal career:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters was born in 1958 in Springfield, Ohio.[4] He was raised in Michigan. His father was a Lutheran minister and his mother was a homemaker.[5][6][7] Peters has said that he took out student loans and participated in his school's work-study program, through which he was given jobs answering phones and cleaning pigeon cages.[5] He received his undergraduate degree from Duke University.[8]

Peters served as an economist on the staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),[9] then earned a J.D. degree from the New York University School of Law.[8] Before his election to the city council, he worked as a deputy county counsel for San Diego County and as an attorney in private practice focusing on environmental law.[10] He gained notability in a lawsuit against a local shipbuilder.[11]

California government career:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

California Coastal Commission:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 2002, Peters was appointed to the California Coastal Commission.[12] He served one three-year term on the Commission. A coalition of environmental groups gave his votes an environmental score of 31% in 2002, 52% in 2003 and 40% in 2004.[13][14] He was "involuntarily retired" in 2005 when new State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez did not renew his appointment.[15]

City Council (2000–2008):{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Elections:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 2000, Peters ran for the San Diego City Council's 1st district. In the open primary, he ranked second with 24% of the vote, qualifying for the November general election. Businesswoman Linda Davis ranked first with 32% of the vote.[16] Peters defeated Davis, 53%-47%.[17]

In the 2004 open primary, he came in first with 48% of the vote. Businessman Phil Thalheimer ranked second with 31% of the vote.[18][19] In the November election, Peters was reelected, defeating Thalheimer 55%-45%.[20]

Tenure:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 2004, San Diego city residents voted to change the structure of city government from a council-city manager form to a mayor-council form, which made the mayor the city's chief executive officer.[21] Serving as a member of the city council during this time, Peters was elected to chair the transition committee in charge of this project.[22]

In 2005, Peters's fellow council members elected him to serve as the first president of the San Diego City Council,[23] which under the new form of government made him the chief officer of the city's newly defined legislative branch. In 2008, San Diego's mayor vetoed a 24% pay raise for the city council that Peters and four other council members had voted for.[24][25]

Peters was a member of the San Diego City Council during the San Diego pension scandal.[26] In 2002, he voted with the majority to underfund the employee pension system.[27][28] The ensuing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation cleared Peters and the other council members of fraud, but the Kroll Report investigation called them "negligent." The city spent $7 million defending officials involved in this case, including $631,000 defending Peters.[29][30] During the 2012 congressional election campaign, his Republican opponent, Brian Bilbray, made the scandal a major issue.[31]

In 2007, Peters was criticized for excessive water use during a drought. He ended the year having consumed more than 1 million gallons of water for his home, which sits on a 34,848-square-foot lot near Mount Soledad, and for an adjacent landscaped parcel.[32]

Peters cited a reduction in sewer spills and beach closure days as accomplishments during his city council tenure. He stated that the city averaged one spill per day when he was elected in 2000, but that the incidence of such spills fell 80% during his terms in office.[33] He was involved in the push to ban alcohol from the city's beaches, as well as to ban smoking from public beaches and parks.[34][35]

2008 city attorney election:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Having reached the end of his eight-year term limit on the city council, Peters ran for San Diego City Attorney in 2008, challenging incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre. In the open primary, state legislator Jan Goldsmith ranked first with 32% of the vote. The incumbent ranked second with 29% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff election. Peters ranked third with 20% of the vote and did not advance to the runoff.[36] He later served as deputy county counsel for the County of San Diego.[10]

Port Commission (2009–2012):{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Scott Peters in 2011

Peters was a port commissioner from 2009 through 2012, serving as chair of the Port Commission in 2011. He was sworn in as a commissioner in January 2009, after having been appointed by the San Diego City Council.[37][38] He represented the City of San Diego on the Port Commission, making decisions about the uses of San Diego Bay and its adjacent waterfront land.[39]

Peters's fellow commissioners chose him to serve as chair of the board of commissioners for 2011.[40] In January 2011, he said one of his top priorities was to decommission the South Bay Power Plant in Chula Vista to make room for better use.[40] In the year Peters served as chair, the board of commissioners reached a deal with the former operator of the plant for its demolition.[41] The Port also conducted community outreach for six months to gather ideas for improving San Diego's waterfront "front porch" between the airport and Seaport Village.[42]

U.S. House of Representatives (2013–present):{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Elections:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

2012

Main article: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 52

Peters ran for the newly redrawn 52nd district in 2012. The district had previously been the 50th district, represented by Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray. In the open primary, Bilbray ranked first with 41% of the vote. Peters ranked second with 23% of the vote, qualifying for the November general election ballot. He narrowly edged out State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, a fellow Democrat, who earned 22% of the vote. The other candidates all received single-digit percentages.[43] During the primary, Peters received the endorsement of retiring congressman Bob Filner of the neighboring 51st district.[44] On election night the vote was too close to call, but Peters's small lead increased each day as more absentee, vote-by-mail, and provisional ballots were processed. On November 16, Bilbray conceded to Peters.[45] Peters defeated Bilbray 51%-49%, a difference of 6,956 votes.[46] He became the first Democrat to represent what is now the 52nd since 1991, when Jim Bates was unseated in what was then the 44th district (it was renumbered the 51st in 1993 and the 50th in 2003).

Scott Peters in the 2014 San Diego LGBT Pride Parade

2014

Main article: 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 52

In the June 2014 primary, Peters was opposed by three Republicans. Peters was the top vote-getter with 42%. Under California's "top two" primary system, he faced the second-place finisher, former city councilman Carl DeMaio, in the November general election.[47] Peters was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program. The program is designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic candidates.[48] In August, Peters was endorsed by the United States Chamber of Commerce, which usually endorses Republicans.[49][50]

In a poll conducted by SurveyUSA for U-T San Diego and 10News during September 11–15, 2014, Peters polled at 47% and DeMaio at 46%.[51] The same poll taken October 2–6 showed DeMaio with a 3-point lead over Peters, within the margin of error.[52] An earlier Survey USA poll showed Peters leading by one point.[52]

On election night the result was too close to call, with DeMaio ahead by 751 votes. Over the next few days Peters pulled into the lead. By Friday, Peters had a lead of 4,491 votes, and the Associated Press called the election for him.[53] The final result was Peters 51.59% and DeMaio 48.41%.[54]

2016

Main article: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 52

Peters freshman portrait

Peters was re-elected in 2016 with 56.5% of the vote, handily defeating Republican Denise Gitsham.

2018

Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 52

Peters was reelected with 63.8% of the vote over Republican Omar Qudrat.

2020

Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in California § District 52

Peters was reelected with 61.6% of the vote over Republican Jim DeBello.

Tenure:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters supported reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in early 2013.[55] In April of that year, he voted for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, a bill that would allow federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities.[56] Peters co-sponsored the BREATHE Act in March 2013.[57] In May, he voted against repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).[58][59] The same year, he co-sponsored the Student Non-Discrimination Act.[55] In October 2013, Peters was one of nine Democratic co-sponsors of HR3425, an unsuccessful proposal to delay any penalties under the PPACA until four months after the program's website was fully functional.[60] As of late 2013, Peters had voted the same way as Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner nine of the 16 times that Boehner had cast a vote.[61] The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Peters voted with the Chamber's position on key bills 69% of the time.[49]

Peters signed the Respect for Marriage Act in early 2015.[55] Months later, the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, making the act de facto federal law.

Peters co-sponsored the Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act, which would have required lead in drinking water to be reported to the public.[57] In June 2016, House Democrats staged a sit-in on the House floor to protest the lack of a vote on gun control. The Speaker pro tem, Ted Poe, declared the House was in recess, and the video feed to C-SPAN was shut off. But after a brief interruption, C-SPAN was able to broadcast the sit-in because Peters streamed the activity using his Periscope account.[62] That same month, Peters voted in support of the DARK Act.[57]

Committee assignments:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

2013–2014 113th session of Congress:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

2015–2016 114th session of Congress

2017–2018 115th session of Congress

2019–2020 116th session of Congress

2021–2022 117th session of Congress

Caucus memberships:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Political positions:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Abortion:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters is pro-choice.[71][72]

Civil rights:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

LGBTQI

Peters supports same-sex marriage.[55]

Women's rights

His efforts to support women's rights earned him an endorsement from the Feminist Majority in 2012.[55]

Climate change[

Peters has called climate change "a global emergency and imminent threat that requires us to work across party lines to take bold, immediate action."[73] He supports efforts to decarbonize the economy to become net-zero carbon, including charging for carbon expenditures. He also wants to regulate methane, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon, which he believes contribute to climate change.[74][73] Peters also wants to see the auto industry transition to electric vehicles.[75]

Peters did not sign in support of the Green New Deal resolution, the only member of San Diego's congressional delegation not to sign it.[76] His rationale stemmed from the resolution's lack of bipartisan support and its inclusion of demands such as free college education, which he does not consider part of the climate change problem.[71]

In 2014, Peters said he would prefer that Congress develop a strategy to deal with climate change, but that in lieu of congressional action, he would support President Obama's moves to bypass Congress and look for an international climate change deal.[77]

In 2019, Peters sponsored the bipartisan Super Pollutants Act, which according to a press release from his office "aims to slow climate change by regulating black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons, and methane–some of the most potent greenhouse gases. These short-lived climate pollutants, also called super pollutants, are significantly more potent than carbon dioxide."[78]

Wildfires

Peters acknowledges that wildfires have increased due to climate change. He considers wildfires, and natural disasters, high priority in his district. He has sponsored legislation to ensure transparency in government spending on disaster responses. He also has supported the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act to fund wildfire suppression and prevention efforts.[73]

COVID-19[

Peters called the Trump administration's response to COVID-19 "abysmal" and said that "other countries look on with a mixture of horror and pity for how this has gone for us.”[71] He pushed to oppose a patent waiver that would allow developing nations to create their own vaccines.[79]

Energy and oil:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters opposes expanding offshore drilling and has supported efforts to ban it in the Gulf of Mexico. He supports nuclear energy and investing in advanced nuclear technologies.[80]

Government reform:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters supports D.C. statehood.[81]

Voting rights

Peters opposes requiring photo ID to vote. He supports automatic voter registration for eligible voters and making election day a federal holiday.[81]

Guns:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters supports background check requirements for every firearm sale and transfer.[82]

Health care:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

He supports the Affordable Care Act and opposes efforts to repeal it.[83]

Peters was one of three Democrats on the House Energy Committee to oppose allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, except in a small subset of cases.[84][85] In September 2021, he and Representatives Kurt Schrader and Kathleen Rice joined Republican members to block committee passage of such a bill, 29-29.Peters has received consistent and considerable financial support from the pharmaceutical industry since he was first elected in 2012.Over his career, pharmaceutical PACs and employees have donated $860,465 to his campaigns, the second-most of any industry, according to Open Secrets. By mid-September in the2022 election cycle, pharmaceutical industry contributions to Peters exceeded those of all other House members and candidates at $88,550.[86]

Housing[

Peters considers housing and homelessness top concerns in his district. He supports affordable housing and building dense housing near transit, with the goal of getting more homes being built while improving transit infrastructure.[73]

Immigration:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters supports the DREAM Act and creating paths to citizenship for longtime immigrant U.S. residents. He opposed the Trump administration family separation policy.[74] Peters co-sponsored the Providing Justice for Asylum Seekers Act to make it easier for immigration judges to reschedule cases to avoid automatic deportation of people seeking asylum.[73]

Military:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters has led efforts to improve infrastructure at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. He has encouraged the building of new Navy ships based in San Diego. He supports a new Navy Seals training facility in the San Diego area.[74]

Police:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters co-sponsored the Justice in Policing Act. He believes in partnering with law enforcement officers "to change the culture."[73]

U.S.-Mexico relations:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters considers the border relations between San Diego and Mexico one of his district's top priorities.[73] He opposed the Trump wall and supports the USMCA. He has led efforts to upgrade the San Ysidro Port of Entry to reduce border waits. He also supports modernizing border security.[74]

Personal life:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Peters lives with his family in La Jolla.[9] He and his wife, Lynn E. Gorguze, have two children.[73] Gorguze is president and CEO of Cameron Holdings,[87] and his family has a net worth of $112 million.[88] As of 2014, Peters was the sixth-wealthiest member of Congress.[88]

Electoral history

Full House of Representatives

When the full House considered the NDAA on July 13, Representative Perry offered an amendment that would strip the bill of any language on climate change, including the report. After floor debate that included discussions from Rep. Langevin, Rep. Peters, and GOP Representatives Stefanik and Ros-Lehtinen. The amendment to strip the climate security section failed by a vote of 185-234, with 45 Republicans voting against. This vote on the House floor was an important signal that Congress is ready to support the military’s actions in preparing for the effects of climate change.