Obama aides helped drugmakers, GOP says
NEW YORK — President Barack Obama’s aides helped plan a $150 million advertising campaign paid for by drug companies to support passage of the 2010 U.S. health-care system overhaul, according to memorandums provided by Republican lawmakers.
The drugmakers, along with lobbying groups for senior citizens and consumers, helped fund independent political groups to run the television ads while health-care legislation was being debated in Congress.
The groups coordinated with Democratic strategists who worked with Obama’s staff on the effort, according to memorandums and e-mails among those involved that were released Friday by GOP members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Democratic consultants working with the White House asked to meet supporters of the law “to discuss our ad campaign,” Ron Pollack, executive director of the Washington-based consumer group Families USA, said in a June 2009 e-mail to lobbyists at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. “As I mentioned previously, I wanted to get some guidance from the White House about their messaging and how our effort can be consistent with that.”
“Before during and after the health-care debate, PhRMA engaged in the policy discussions,” Matt Bennett, a spokesman for the lobbying group, said by telephone Friday. “I can’t speak to the actions or decisions made by anyone in the White House.”
Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, called the Republican accusations “baseless” and “politically driven.”
“Republicans, who previously admitted this is not serious and merely a partisan effort to distract the President’s reelection campaign, are now attempting to recycle an old story that was well covered during the original debate three years ago,” Schultz said in an e-mail.
Bloomberg News reported last month that the Republicans on the panel are targeting whether Democrats were promised political support from drugmakers in exchange for limiting what the industry would be asked to contribute under the health-care overhaul, citing people familiar with the talks who asked not to be identified because they were private.
The drug industry agreed to $80 billion to $125 billion in taxes, discounts and other concessions to help fund the health law’s programs. In return, they avoided potentially harmful policies, including one that would have let people import cheaper brand-name drugs into the U.S.
Republicans led by Cliff Stearns of Florida and Michael Burgess of Texas contend that the memorandums show the Obama administration traded policy concessions in return for advertising support of the law.
“These phrma dollars were funneled to two new ‘Super PACS’, created and managed in part by White House officials, in order to win public support for the president’s bill,” House Republicans said in a memorandum outlining their views.
Obama’s $1 trillion, 10-year plan to overhaul the health system passed Congress without any Republican votes. Parts of the law expanding insurance coverage have been challenged as unconstitutional by 26 states.