US Drug Industry's $30 billion Concerns"

A chief objective of US health care lobbyists is eventual repeal of a Medicaid provision requiring drug firms to give discounts to state Medicaid programs. This, they say, costs the industry $1.7 billion a year and is no longer needed as so many medicaid recipients belong to health maintenance organizations which obtain their own discounts.

Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America vice president Lynda Nersesian says the industry's survival is at stake. Its "$30 billion" worth of concerns include tax credits for R&D costs, for testing rare disease treatments and for companies operating businesses in Puerto Rico, as well as Bill S 1191 (see story above).