Obama touts deal with drug firms

He was joined at the White House by Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee who struck the deal with the White House; Senator Chris Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, and Barry Rand, head of the senior citizens’ advocacy group AARP. Notably absent was a representative from the pharmaceutical association.

“It was always designed to be an AARP event,’’ said Ken Johnson, spokesman for the association. “We don’t think we should have been invited to it.’’

The president used the opportunity to make his sternest call yet for action, saying the drug agreement is one piece of “healthcare reform I expect Congress to enact this year.’’

Obama said the move on Medicare will help correct an anomaly in the program that provides a prescription drug benefit through the government healthcare program for the elderly and disabled. Under the deal, drug companies will pay part of the cost of brand-name drugs for lower- and middle-income older people in the so-called “doughnut hole.’’ That term refers to a feature of the current drug program that requires beneficiaries to pay the entire cost of prescriptions after initial coverage is exhausted but before catastrophic coverage begins.

Obama said some Medicare beneficiaries will find at least a 50 percent discount on prescription drugs. Obama says drug companies stand to benefit when more Americans can afford prescription drugs.

The drug companies’ investment would reduce the cost of drugs for seniors and pay for a portion of Obama’s proposed revamping of healthcare.

Johnson said there are other parts to the agreement that have still not been completed, but he declined to provide details.

“There are a lot of discussions going on right now, there are a lot of moving pieces, there are a lot of elements to it that have not been finalized,’’ Johnson said.

Others following the healthcare debate said they understood that as part of the agreement, the drug group was also discussing additional savings for low-income people, but details were unclear. Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, which favors a health overhaul, said he understood the additional cost reductions would be for lower-income seniors.

On a parallel track, the White House and Senate Democrats have been holding private, separate talks with representatives of doctors, hospitals, insurers, and medical device manufacturers in hopes of finding specific savings those groups would be willing to produce.

Under the agreement Obama discussed yesterday, part of the $80 billion would be used to halve the cost of brand-name drugs for Medicare recipients when they are in a coverage gap of the program.