There has been a fair amount of criticism towards the pharmaceutical industry, here and here, for cooperating with the White House on health-care reform. As I discuss today in this op-ed and recently in this longer article, the “fees” that the drug companies are being hit with will bounce off them and stick to you and me in the form of higher prices. Clever move by the drug industry. Sly trick for Democrats.
However, the game is not playing out as well when it comes to attempts to impose taxes on the insurance companies and the medical-device companies, who are trying to stand up for their customers.
– Alex Brill is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.