Nashua Telegraph: Kuster co-sponsors bill to strip fiscal cliff deal bonus for drug company

U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., is coauthoring a bipartisan bill aimed at stripping a controversial provision from the fiscal cliff law Congress approved in December that awarded a benefit worth $500 million to Amgen, a for-profit pharmaceutical company.

This section blocked Medicare from regulating the price of Amgen’s dialysis drug for two years and was tucked into a host of tax extenders, credits and other provisions in the fiscal cliff measure without a public hearing or any debate.

The Amgen provision only recently surfaced when The New York Times reported on it and the chief sponsors of it were Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, and Max Baucus, D-MT, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

“This last-minute taxpayer giveaway tucked into the fiscal cliff deal is exactly what’s wrong with Washington,” Kuster said. “While Congress was finalizing a plan to avoid a catastrophic default on our country’s debt, Amgen quietly worked to include this taxpayer handout in the final bill virtually without notice.’’

The four congressmen who originally introduced this new bill were Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., Jim Cooper D-Tenn, and Bruce Braley, D-Iowa.

“I came to Congress to put an end to these types of deals, and I’m pleased to join members of both parties in cosponsoring legislation to help right this wrong,” Kuster said.

Earlier this week, Hatch angrily defended the provision noting that the drug provides significant benefit. Hatch cited a General Accounting Office office report that concluded that permitting Medicare to control the cost of this drug too quickly could especially hurt rural citizens.

“I personally resent the way some people have blown that out of proportion because there are good, solid reasons that were backed up by government as to why that needed to go over for another two years,” Hatch said. “You have both senators on the Finance committee, both leaders, who believe that you needed to put it over for two years or rural Americans are going to be very badly hurt.”

According to published reports, at least 22 of Amgen’s hired lobbyists previously worked in the U.S. Senate and two worked for Baucus in his Senate or campaign offices. Since 2008, both Baucus and Hatch have received more than $60,000 in campaign contributions from Amgen and its employees.