Following are some published thoughts about the effects on health care that might arise from this week’s election results.
Democrats may push for an agenda that includes curbing Medicare drug prices, strategists said. "The biggest impact by far would be the drug stocks,'' said Gregory Valliere, chief political strategist at Stanford Washington Research in Washington…. Merck, the fourth-biggest U.S. drugmaker, lost $1.43 to $44.47. Pfizer, the world's largest, retreated 65 cents to $26.64. Humana Inc., the second-biggest provider of Medicare drug benefits, dropped $4.21 to $54.44.
--from “U.S. Stocks Fall After Elections; Health-Care Shares Lead Drop,” Bloomberg, Nov. 8.
"Even if there's no change in legislation, just the greater scrutiny and oversight, that's going to constrain price increases," says Joe France, a managed care analyst with Banc of America Securities.
--from "With Dems in control: Gridlock or change?" USA Today, Nov. 9.
As numerous pre-election polls have made very clear, except in a few selected races, health care is playing a relatively minor role in determining the outcome of the 2006 midterm election. As a result, elected officials will arrive back in Washington with little pressure from voters to change the current direction of the country’s health care system…. Surveys show that the underlying level of public concern about health care issues today and in the early nineties is about the same. It is the presence of other issues winning voters’ attention and the absence of leadership by political figures on the health issue that explain why health care reform has little real political appeal today.
--from “Health Care Reform: Time for a Wake-Up Call” by Drew Altman and Robert Blendon from the Health Affairs blog, Oct. 30.
The House will certainly try to empower Medicare to negotiate Rx prices with drug makers. This might include establishing a Medicare-run Part D drug benefit, somewhat similar to Medicare A and B.
--Alan Sager, Professor of health policy and management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, quoted in “Will the Dems’ House Victory Make a Difference in Health-Care Reform?” at ABC News, Nov. 8.
"Although most voters named Iraq and congressional scandals as important, our polling showed that health care concerns and Social Security were the number two and three issues in importance for boomers and their parents," said John Rother, AARP policy director. "AARP hopes to work across the partisan divide to push the new Congress to address measures to make drugs and health care coverage more affordable, to give consumers better choices and helpful health care information, and to strengthen our retirement programs for the long run."
--from “Election 2006: The Road Ahead,” in AARP’s Online Extra, November 8.
