Former Bush Secretary Made it Illegal For Government to Negotiate Lower Prescription Costs for Medicare
Republican Senate hopeful Tommy Thompson talks about reducing the deficit, but after leaving Wisconsin with a $1 billion deficit as governor, he went to work as a Cabinet Secretary for President George W. Bush and cut a sweetheart deal with the drug companies that made it illegal for the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices — increasing the cost to taxpayers and increasing the deficit.
Sec. Thompson was the “point man” for a Bush Administration plan to make it to illegal for the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 11/21/2003, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 4, 2012]
“Tommy Thompson left Wisconsin a $1 billion deficit then went to Washington and cut a sweetheart deal for the drug companies that made it illegal for Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, increasing the cost to taxpayers,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate.
In 2008, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a report which said: “If Medicare Part D paid the same price as Medicaid for all drug purchases, the total savings to the taxpayer over the next ten years could be as much as $156 billion. Beneficiaries could also save up to $27 billion.” [House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, July 2008]
He also “lobbied tirelessly” and “played a key role” in pushing through what the former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker called “the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s,” adding $242 billion to the federal deficit. [Politico, 10/7/2008; Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/4/04; Forbes, 11/20/2009]
“Thompson also played a key role increasing the deficit by $242 billion and then cashed in on his special interest connections in Washington D.C. One thing is clear, Tommy Thompson wasn’t for Wisconsin then and he isn’t now,” Tate said.
