Koch's Comments: The insurance and drug industries must be defeated

Carthago delenda est are words I recall from my days as a student at South Side High School in Newark, New Jersey, now called Malcolm X Shabazz High. I attended South Side High from 1937 to 1941, and in those days its core curriculum required the study of Latin. We learned that every day in the Roman Senate, Cato the Elder rose from his seat to say to his colleagues, Carthago delenda est - Carthage must be destroyed. In fact, it ultimately was destroyed by the Romans and its very earth salted so that nothing would ever live there. I believe that to this day, Carthage is a ruin.

We Americans are facing in the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries a threat at least as powerful and destructive to our medical safety and security as Rome faced with regard to its territorial security in those ancient days. We need a Cato the Elder in each House of Congress to stand up every day and sound the alarm and to challenge his and her colleagues with the battle cry, "Citizens, gird your loins and prepare for battle; the insurance and drug industries must be defeated."

Currently, those insurance industries have an exemption from the anti-trust laws of the nation, which exemption must be revoked. Consumers are prohibited from crossing state lines in retaining insurance companies to cover them, and I have no doubt there are many other protections provided to insurers of which we are unaware. In the case of the pharmaceutical companies, we know of at least two enormous rip-offs that were given to them by the Republicans and President George W. Bush that the Obama administration shockingly continues.

First is that Medicare, which buys hundreds of billions of dollars of prescription drugs annually for the elderly covered by that agency, is expressly forbidden by law to seek volume discounts from its suppliers.  Medicare pays enormous amounts compared with other entities, public and private. Stanley Crouch, a highly regarded reporter for The Daily News, recently reported in his column that, "Under Medicare, the in-demand cholesterol drug Zocor costs $1,485 for a year's supply.  The Veterans Administration, which can negotiate with drug companies over prices, gets the same year-long supply for $127!"

The second  huge rip-off is the prohibition on Americans' purchasing American-manufactured drugs sold in other countries at hugely discounted prices. For example, due to the American drug manufacturer's elimination of research and development costs from the price of drugs sold elsewhere, drugs in Canada are available at up to 50 percent less than the same drugs in the US.

When the Bush administration controlled Congress, the Democrats in Congress, including I believe candidate Obama, made clear their opposition  to these blatantly anti-consumer acts. Now that the Democrats are in control of  both Houses and the White House, one would have thought both of these onerous policies would have been ended. Not so. They both still stand, and President Obama has given his blessing to their continuation.

Is this not a sell-out by the administration of the public? I think it is. The President's spokesman confirmed the validity of the settlement announced by the drug industry that its financial contributions to the proposed new comprehensive legislation will be a total of $80 billion over a 10-year period, i.e. $8 billion per year, and the Medicare limitation of no volume discounts will stay in place. Volume discounts at only 10% would produce savings of $80b. a year to the government on the more than $800b. in prescription drugs that will be purchased by it. If the discount were 30%, which is more likely, the savings to the government would be $240b. a year.

Why are the Democratic Congress and president being so kind and beneficent to the drug manufacturers and insurance companies? We know that these two industries pour millions into the campaign coffers of those in Congress running for reelection. We also know they also pay for television commercials supporting the Obama healthcare initiative.

President Obama's approval ratings continue to slide. There will be a two-year bi-election next year in 2010, and this issue of healthcare will continue to dominate the political discussion. I predict that if the Democrats and President Obama continue to be seen as selling out the public - as they are now - the Democrats will lose control of both Houses, and if the insurance and pharmaceutical companies are not restrained in their ravenous assaults upon the US public, many Democrats will be crossing party lines, not because they like Republican policies, but to teach their own party that Democratic voters are not fools and will not permit their leaders to take advantage of us.

 Remember, Democrats put them there and Democrats can throw them out. Members of Congress who do not want to reap the whirlwind, I urge you to stand up every day and shout out in both Houses of Congress the equivalent of Carthago delenda est.