Was a poll about Medicare drug prices skewed by including possibly misleading statements?

[madfloridian]

I have wondered why our Democrats have not made a move about getting the prices lowered on the Medicare D plan. I keep seeing all these ads about how we should not regulate drug prices. And I see ads about the donut hole in the plan not being a bad thing at all. That of course is BS. Pure BS.

I think because this firm is so tied to the Democrats that they trust it. I wonder how they worded this poll? I can't believe it is this easy to make people think that the government should not bid for competitive prices on drugs.

This company's Mark Penn is Hillary Clinton's chief advisor, so it is closely tied to Democrats in general. Maybe this poll is why we have not heard much about this plan they had to have the competitive bidding.

Feds' negotiating would limit choice

Well, that's the title. But the insurance for all employees in our county already limits the choice. The insurance company decides what drugs they will pay for not us not the doctor.

Critics dismiss this argument as drug industry propaganda. But, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and prominent economists nationwide, the only way the government can negotiate lower Medicare drug prices is to restrict the medicines available to seniors. And even then, many say, the savings would be minimal.

...."Recent polls show a majority of Americans think it's a good idea for the federal government to negotiate prices on behalf of seniors — that is, until they learn that it could restrict their ability to choose the drugs that could be most effective in treating an illness. Then nearly nine in 10, according to a recent Penn, Schoen & Berland/Tarrance Group poll, say it's a bad idea for the government to get involved.

And that's already happening in some cases. Just look at the Veterans Affairs drug program. The VA plan covers only 65 percent of the top 300 prescription medicines prescribed to seniors, according to a recent study by the Lewin Group. In other words, government negotiation has resulted in some veterans losing access to the medicines they need.

By contrast, the same study found that the two Medicare Part D plans with the highest enrollment cover 94 percent of the medicines used most by seniors. The wide selection of drug plans and medicines in Part D allows seniors to best meet their health-care needs.

Ask your neighborhood seniors about that. I think that poll has an unpleasant aroma about it.

This is the company that also does exit polling throughout the world, in Venezuela and Bolivia, and Ukraine also I think.

Coup plotters and exit polling

Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) has played a pioneering role in the use of polling operations, especially "exit polls," in facilitating coups. Its primary mission is to shape the perception that the group installed into power in a targeted country has broad popular support. The group began work in Serbia during the period that its principle, Mark Penn, was President Clinton's top political advisor.

....."The groups touts its role in Serbia. In an article, entitled "Defeating dictators at the ballot box: Lessons on how to develop successful electoral strategy in an authoritarian society," posted on their website, coauthors Penn and Schoen report:

International strategists, political and media consultants—such as ourselves have played critical roles behind the scenes of the elections in Serbia and Zimbabwe, helping the opposition parties craft strategies, messages and organize a credible and effective campaign that has enabled them to weaken the dictator, his political party, and eventually throw him out of power..

Fixing the Medicare D drug bill was something we heard a lot about before the election. But we hear nothing now. Maybe the poll done by this well connected firm had something to do with it.

Wait, I just thought of something else. More Democratic consultants and lobbyists are working that theme....that seniors are happy and content with the bill. Take a look at this post from MyDD.

The Democrats and K Street

Here's what one of the companies is pushing.

For instance, I've uploaded this document, a polling memo from the Glover Park Group, on the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan that they distributed to the media. It is a summary of public polling that starts with this passage:

"After a thorough review of early public polling on the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, our analysis suggests that support for the program is solid. Five months into the program, enrolled seniors are satisfied with the program, found enrollment to be easy and think it's saving them money."

A strong aroma around that also.

[madfloridian]

1. Ok, good, looks like Stabenow's on it.

http://blog.ourfuture.org/sen_stabenow_negotiating_best_price_american_way

"Submitted by Bill Scher on Wed, 2007-04-04 19:14.
This afternoon, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI) joined the authors of the new Institute for America's Future report, "The Waste and Inefficiency of the Bush Prescription Drug Plan" for a news conference urging the Senate to empower Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices.

As Sen. Stabenow declared, "negotiating the best price is the American way."

Reporters peppered the Senator with one of Big Pharma's arguments: that the House bill as written wouldn't give Medicare enough leverage to negotiate well.

The Senator replied, "We have two arguments that are used on this," that "it’s really not going to make any difference" and it's going to cut into the drug industry's enormous profits. Both can't be true.

Further noting the massive amounts of money Big Pharma is throwing around to kill a bill that supposedly won't affect prices, Sen. Stabenow said, "Their behavior does not fit the rhetoric."

Good for her..

But from the same source....Big Pharma is lobbying up. And look who they are lobbying up with.

http://blog.ourfuture.org/big_pharma_lobbies_up

Pharmaceutical companies ... are among the companies scrambling to hire lobbyists with Democratic ties as they prepare for congressional investigative hearings next week.

Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker, has hired the Glover Park Group, whose partners include Joe Lockhart, a former spokesman for President Bill Clinton, and Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Roche Holding AG picked as its lobbyist William Clyburn, cousin of the House's third-ranking Democrat, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.

The increased hiring coincides with the Democratic congressional sweep that has sent shudders through corporate boardrooms

...