Jill Barcum is a writer forl Strib, and penned this April 27, 2025 item:
Burcum: About that so-called ‘pill penalty’
[...]
The pill penalty campaign is about protecting pharmaceutical profits from the federal government sensibly wielding its vast purchasing power to drive down drug costs through price negotiation.
The pill penalty campaign is also misguided and ill-timed. There’s a far more massive threat to medical breakthroughs right now: the sweeping research cuts and freezes put in place under President Donald Trump’s administration.
This “has brought biomedical research to the brink of crisis by holding up much of the $47 billion the United States spends on the field every year,” the New York Times reports. [...]
It is unclear when the money will reach the labs of the scientists in Minnesota and elsewhere. This foundational research paves the way for next-generation medical treatments. Where’s the bought-and-paid-for outrage over these chain-saw-style cuts?
Hopefully Emmer, if he goes on record will mirror the outrage being mentioned.
Continuing with the op-ed:
The pill penalty mailers instead take issue with new measures adopted by the federal government to drive a hard bargain. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes provisions empowering “Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies to improve access to some of the costliest single-source brand-name Medicare Part B and Part D drugs,” according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
[...] Understandably, “the federal government is the largest purchaser of prescription drugs in the United States,” reports the Congressional Budget Office.
The private sector famously wields its purchasing power to drive down prices for consumers, with Walmart a prime example. [...]
The pill penalty campaign takes issue with the timing for when drugs become eligible for price negotiations. There are two main groups of drugs involved.
The first: small-molecule drugs, which are often pills or capsules and considered easier to manufacture. Ibuprofen is an example.
The second: biologics, which are more challenging to manufacture and typically used to treat more medically complicated, chronic or rare diseases, according to the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy. Humira, which treats rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease, is an example.
The two classes are given different time periods for legal protection from competition to protect drug manufacturers’ investment in developing them. Biologics receive 12 years, while small-molecule drugs are protected for five years under law.
The IRA drug negotiation provisions also treat the two drug classes differently when it comes to price negotiations. Biologics are exempt for 11 years, while small-molecule drugs get seven years.
[...] A bill dubbed the EPIC Act, introduced by U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., would lengthen the exemption for small-molecule drugs from seven years to 11 years, with the extended time period benefiting drugmakers’ bottom line. Cost of the “fix” is estimated at $10 billion.
An organization called Commitment to Seniors paid for the pill penalty flyers. It’s linked to American Commitment, headed by Phil Kerpen. He previously worked at Americans for Prosperity, a group “heavily financed by Koch Industries, which is owned largely by billionaire Charles Koch,” FactCheck.Org reports.
I asked PhRMA, the drugmakers’ trade organization, for a statement. [...]
A spokeswoman pointed to a new analysis concluding that “early-stage investment in small molecules has dropped nearly 70% since the IRA was introduced.” The analysis’ authors: Vital Transformation, which describes itself as a “small, unique consultancy focused on addressing the challenges of today’s modern healthcare system.”
A study worth the website it's written on - that said, continuing -
Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat, took a different view. “Pharma is trying to undo all the progress we’ve made over the last few years to stop them from ripping off Americans. Seniors should know the truth about who is behind this campaign, and what’s at stake.”
[...] Let’s not forget about seniors struggling to afford their medications. Should they be asked to wait four more years for more affordable drugs?
And if the IRA provisions are a threat to new drugs and treatments, consider again the bigger threat posed by massive research cuts. Where are the slick flyers protesting this? Because outrage is certainly in order.
Bottom line truth is that this Epic Act is a sop to Big Pharma and, as Tina says, a ripoff. Emmer is wise enough to not be a House Epic Act cosponsor - at least so far.
The Epic Act is cooked up by a few trainwrecks, i.e., GOP Senators, and has House member sponsors the companion measure, H.R. 1492 where the sponsorship currently is the "bill has 37 cosponsors — 36 Republicans, 1 Democrat — plus its sponsor." So far, Emmer's name is NOT on as a cosponsor!
Yet the scurrilous flaks behind the mischief abuse the man's NIL property rights:
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| partial screen capture - image source |
And checking that source these buggars claim, "82 percent of seniors SUPPORT THE EPIC ACT TO ELIMINATE THE PILL PENALTY" with added tiny text,"[ source: McLaughlin & Associates]" for that absolutely unreasonable assertion.
So who are those assholes, this image:
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| click the image to enlarge and read |
As trustworthy a source as the Koch people who are abusing Emmer's NIL.
What a bunch of liars and Bumsteads. Emmer is GOP House whip, and does not need these bumblers damaging his reputation. While not a Crabgrass favorite, he deserves a fair shake and these idiots are immitating his own mailers as if he's one of them. He is a few notches above these clowns but that sets the bar low anyway.
__________UPDATE__________
That flyer, those behind it, seem to also be hanging McLaughlin & Associates out to dry on the same line they've put Emmer.
This M&A item seems to distinctly contradict any Big Pharma misjudgment alleged to be held by a majority of senior citizens. Hang the seniors out to dry too?
This whole Epic Act nonsense seems to be a creation of North Carolinians, who should have better judgment - judgment beyond money is green, go for it.