DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus The Economy Part 2

For some reason I'm having a problem believing you're making enough money from that to buy bread. But never lose hope. Just keep at it!

I also sell Dark Brandon t shirts to the homeless.

I can see why you can't afford bread.

I am in the Electrical Construction field

Fox News host knocks Trump: ‘You either own the markets or you don’t’

Nick Robertson
Tue, Aug 6, 2024 at 9:32 AM EDT2 min read

Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto challenged former President Trump’s record and comments on the stock market Monday after the former president blamed President Biden and Vice President Harris for this week’s slide.

Trump said that the Wall Street drop, triggered by instability in the Japanese economy alongside concerns over a cooling U.S. jobs market, was actually the fault of the White House. Earlier this year, when stocks were soaring, the former president had said it was because of anticipation over him returning to the White House.

“The Donald Trump thing in the market amazes me,” Cavuto said. “When they’re up, it’s all because of him and looking forward to him. When they’re down, it’s all because the Democrats and how horrific they are.”

“Yet some of our biggest point drops, three of the biggest of the top 10, occurred during his administration,” he continued. “Now, a lot of those were in the COVID years, I get that, but, you know, you either own the markets or you don’t. It does confuse me.”

Live updates: Harris picks ‘battle-tested’ Walz as her running mate

The Dow fell about 1,100 points on Monday, with U.S. markets experiencing their worst day since 2022.

Republicans dubbed the fall the “Kamala Crash.”

“Of course there is a massive market downturn,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “Kamala is even worse than Crooked Joe. Markets will NEVER accept the Radical Left Lunatic that DESTROYED San Francisco and California, as a whole. Next move, THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF 2024! You can’t play games with MARKETS. KAMALA CRASH!!!”

Trump in January said he hoped there would be an economic crash “in the next 12 months” — before he would take office if he won the election — so he would not be like former President Hoover, who took office just months before the 1929 stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression.

Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, shot back at Trump’s messaging on Monday.

“What middle class families need is steady economic stewardship, not chaotic ranting lies,” Moussa said in a statement. “Donald Trump had the worst jobs record of any modern president, and oversaw some of the worst days in the stock market in history while spending his presidency lining the pockets of his wealthy friends who shipped American jobs overseas. Economic experts agree: His plans would raise costs on working families by $2,500 a year and ‘supercharge’ inflation.”

The Japanese Nikkei market shot up about 10 percent on Tuesday, regaining nearly all of Monday’s losses. It’s unclear if American markets will follow.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-host-knocks-trump-133221737.html

Japan bounces back today. Most of the losses yesterday is coming back. But still crazy market right now. Wait and see mode.

Given the 24/7 negative news cycle, it wouldn't surprise me if we talk ourselves into a recession. I also think there are few other factors.

Prices. People may have finally got sick of the higher prices and started to cut back.

Post covid spending might be wearing off. Ever since lock downs ended, it felt like there was a live in the moment mentality where people are spending and going on vacations and such. It's possible that mentality may be cooling off. Especially if people were living beyond their means to do it. Credit card debt is at an all time high. It's possible people have maxed out their credit and need to pull back on spending.

We should re-elect the guy that added 10 trillion to our national debt…/purple Smfh, you can’t make this crap up.

Inflation drops below 3% for the first time since 2021

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.9% in the 12 months through July, the smallest annual increase in more than 3 years.

Why it matters: Prices continued to rise at a mild pace again last month, the latest confirmation that the inflation shock is over. The new data paves the way for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which could ease pressure on the economy.

By the numbers: Core CPI, the measure closely watched by policymakers that strips out volatile energy and food prices, rose 3.2% in the year through July compared to 3.3% in June.

That is also the smallest 12-month increase since 2021.
On a monthly basis, the overall index rose 0.2% after an outright drop in prices in June.
Core CPI, meanwhile, rose by a similar amount—after rising 0.1% in June.

The big picture: The data shows that inflation continues to recede to the Fed's 2% target.

Fed chairman Jerome Powell has suggested that the central bank will begin to turn its attention to the labor market now that price pressures are easing.
Powell said last month that the Fed wanted further confirmation that inflation is cooling as it tries to keep the labor market healthy before cutting rates.
"If that test is met, a reduction in our policy rate could be on the table, as soon as the next meeting in September," Powell told reporters at a press conference.

Go deeper: What the Fed's past rate cut pivots tell us about today

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/14/cpi-july-2024-inflation-economy

The way is definitely paved. I think we'll see a half point cut in September.

White House says prescription drug deals will produce billions in savings for taxpayers, seniors
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared together for the first time Thursday since she replaced him as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Photos
5
By AMANDA SEITZ and ZEKE MILLER
Updated 3:55 PM GMT-4, August 15, 2024
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More info: See how drug prices will change after Medicare price negotiations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayers are expected to save billions after the Biden administration inked deals with pharmaceutical companies to knock down the lists prices for 10 of Medicare’s costliest drugs.

But how much older Americans can expect to save when they fill a prescription at their local pharmacy remains unclear, since the list cost isn’t the final price people pay.

After months of negotiations with manufacturers, list prices will be reduced by hundreds — in some cases, thousands — of dollars for 30-day supplies of popular drugs used by millions of people on Medicare, including blood thinners, diabetes drugs and blood cancer medications. The reductions, which range between 38% and 79%, take effect in 2026.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long long time,” President Joe Biden said Thursday, during his first policy-oriented appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris since leaving the presidential race. “We pay more for prescription drugs, it’s not hyperbole, than any advanced nation in the world.”


Taxpayers spend more than $50 billion yearly on the 10 drugs, which include popular blood thinners Xarelto and Eliquis and diabetes drugs Jardiance and Januvia.


Read the letter President Biden sent to House Democrats telling them to support him in the election
Image
At debate, Biden meant to say he had beaten ‘big pharma,’ not Medicare
With the new prices, the administration says savings are expected to total $6 billion for taxpayers and $1.5 billion overall for some of the 67 million people who rely on Medicare. Details on those calculations, however, have not been released. And the White House said it could not provide an average cost-savings for individual Medicare enrollees who use the drugs.

That’s because there are a number of factors — from discounts to the coinsurance or copays for the person’s Medicare drug plan — that determine the final price a person pays when they pick up their drugs at a pharmacy.

The new drug prices are likely to most benefit people who use one of the negotiated drugs and are enrolled in a Medicare plan with coinsurance that leaves enrollees to pay a percentage of a drug’s cost after they’ve met the deductible, said Tricia Neuman, an executive director at the health policy research nonprofit KFF.

“It is hard to say, exactly, what any enrollee will save because it depends on their particular plan and their coinsurance,” Neuman said. “But for the many people who are in the plans that charge coinsurance, the lower negotiated price should translate directly to lower out-of-pocket costs.”

Those savings won’t kick in until 2026. Until then, some Medicare enrollees should see relief from drug prices in a new rule starting next year that caps how much they pay annually on drugs to $2,000.

Vice President Kamala Harris, however, wasted no time Thursday campaigning on the new drug deals, especially since no Republicans supported the law, called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and it barely passed Congress in 2022.

“Two years ago, as vice president, I was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote that gave Medicare the power to negotiate,” Harris said to cheering crowds. “In the two years since, we’ve been using this new power to lower the price of life-saving medication.”


Prior to dropping out of the race, Biden had centered his reelection bid around lowering health care and drug costs. But the messaging failed to resonate deeply with Americans, in part because the savings have not had widespread reach.

Powerful drug companies unsuccessfully tried to file lawsuits to stop the negotiations. For years, Medicare had been prohibited from such dealmaking. But the drug companies ended up engaging in the talks, and executives had hinted in recent weeks during earnings calls that they don’t expect the new Medicare drug prices to impact their bottom line.

Instead, they warned Thursday that the new law could drive up prices for consumers in other areas. Already, the White House is bracing for a jump in Medicare drug plan premiums next year, in part because of changes under the new law.

“The administration is using the IRA’s price-setting scheme to drive political headlines, but patients will be disappointed when they find out what it means for them,” said Steve Ubl, the president of the lobbying group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).



The criticism is ironic, health law expert Rachel Sachs of Washington University said. Drug companies have typically supported capping the price older Americans pay for drugs because they don’t eat the cost — insurers or Americans who pay premiums do.

“It makes it easier for patients to afford their medications. It expands their market. They make more money,” said Sachs, who helped advise the Biden administration on implementation of the law.

— Associated Press writer Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-drug-prices-medicare-prescriptions-34886d6f362c242be268c05d5efd5411

to accent the story above-Why didn't it happen sooner-here is an explanation below




Big Pharma "unleashed an army" of lawyers to avoid lowering Medicare drug costs: report
Big Pharma exploited patent laws to stifle competition amid Medicare price negotiations, according to a new report
By Marin Scotten
Published August 15, 2024 9:11AM (EDT)

Manufacturers of the 10 medications listed under the novel Medicare price-negotiation program exploited patent laws to keep costs high for patients, according to a new report from the watchdog group Accountable.US.

The report comes nearly two years after President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act and with it launched the historic Medicare negotiation program, which allows the Department of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with drug companies to lower the prices of some of the most expensive but commonly used prescription drugs.

“Despite taking billions of taxpayer dollars for drug development, these Big Pharma companies unleashed an army of patent attorneys to keep life-saving medicine exclusive and more expensive for seniors and other patients,” Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, said in a statement.


Sen. Amy Klobuchar on drug reform: Big Pharma "spent hundreds of millions — and the public won"
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The initial negotiation list included 10 drugs under Medicare Part D, which covers the cost of prescription drugs. When Biden announced the list, companies raced to ensure their life-saving medication remain “expensive and exclusive,” Carrk said at a press conference hosted by Accountable.US on Wednesday.

The companies bent patent law to maintain a monopoly on certain drugs and prevent competition from entering the market, the report found.

For example, Johnson & Johnson reached several confidential agreements to delay generic competition for the blood thinner Xarelto. Known as a ”pay-to-delay agreement," this entails a company paying its competitors to not release a generic version of their drug at a lower price. Johnson & Johnson also applied for nearly 50 patents on Xarelto, a tactic known as “patent thicketing," which creates barriers to competitors developing a similar product.

The drug Imbruvica, used to treat cancers like Leukemia, is protected by nearly 150 patents, giving manufacturers Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie market exclusivity on the drug until 2036.

Companies also used a strategy called “evergreening,” which is making “small, insignificant changes to their drugs to acquire new patents to extend their exclusivity,” according to the report.

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AstraZeneca’s Farxiga is the most "evergreened" drug on the Medicare negotiation list and is protected by 36 patents until 2030. Farxiga costs over four times as much in the United States as it does in Canada or the United Kingdom, both countries where the government can negotiate for lower prices.

These tactics are a part of an apparent strategy to boost medication prices heading into negotiations with the DHHS. The negotiated prices for the 10 drugs are set to be released in September, with prices set to go into effect in 2026.


Spokespersons for AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“They’re negotiated to a price that is affordable for patients, but also allows for plenty of pharma profit,” Merith Basey, executive director of Patients for Affordable Drugs, said at the press conference Wednesday. “But in the United States, as we've heard, Big Pharma manipulates the system loopholes and extends patents far beyond their normal limits."

The average price of the 10 drugs listed on the Medicare negotiation list is three to eight times the price of those drugs in Australia, Germany, France, the U.K., Canada and Switzerland, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Allowing Medicare to negotiate “alters the trajectory of drug pricing in the United States,” Basey said. Though price negotiation is likely to have a bigger impact over the long term, the IRA has already made a difference in the lives of Medicare Part D enrollees, even with some companies' efforts to avoid lower prices.


Jackie Trapp, who has been treating her incurable blood cancer with Xarelto, a drug manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, said Wednesday that she cannot “overstate the significance” the legislation has had on her life.

The IRA introduced a price cap on out-of-pocket drug costs at $3,500 a year. Before the cap, the co-pay for her medication cost her $15,000-$22,000 a year. She and her husband had to sell their cars and refinance their homes to afford the medication.

But the price of Xarelto and other brand-name drugs in the United States is still extremely high. In 2022, one in five U.S. adults aged 65 or older were forced to skip or delay filing a prescription due to high drug costs.

“It’s not hyperbole to say these are life and death changes for people,” she said at the press conference.

Pharmaceutical companies have long argued that patents protect innovation and are necessary to further research and development. Yet the report points out that a good chunk of research for these drugs has been funded by tax-payers, not the companies themselves.


A study by The Institute for New Economic found the federal government spent a combined $11.7 billion on basic and applied research that led to the development of these drugs. Some $6.5 billion of that was spent on developing Stelara, a Johnson & Johnson drug used to treat Crohn's disease, arthritis and psoriasis.

“Pharma lobbyists and lawyers continue insisting innovation depends on price-gouging seniors, even though the industry’s investment in R&D pales in comparison to their spending on politics, lobbying, and advertising,” Carrk said in a statement. “This is a stark reminder that Big Pharma won’t put seniors and other patients ahead of their profits without Medicare’s historic new authority to regulate their greed.”


https://www.salon.com/2024/08/15/bi...to-avoid-lowering-medicare-costs-report/

Some of this is now not as important, as Medicare has capped us folks on medicare to a 2,000 out of pocket limit on scripts starting next year. I spent 8,000 out of pocket this year just on scripts myself.

Not sure what drugs your taking but I pay out close to 2k a month for Meds. This is a BIG deal to me

You're talking about two different things. The cap is a big deal. The ability to negotiate prices less so, with the cap already in place. At least I think that's what GM was getting at.

It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out over time. Drug costs going down is good, but we'll have to see what it means for premiums and taxes and long term Medicare viability.

I'm not sure I understand. If the price medicare pays drug manufacturers is less, doesn't that mean that the overall cost of medicare goes down? I get the part that it may not be as much of a direct savings to each individual medicare recipient after they reach their cap but if the cost of insulin is now $35 instead of $200 on a specific type, doesn't that mean at the point a medicare recipient reaches their cap that medicare itself saves $165 dollars on what it has to reimburse the drug manufacturer for that insulin?

It's not just the recipient that has been getting ripped off. It's the entire medicare program which we have all paid into and continue to pay into that has been footing the bill and that's how it will continue to be. In order to keep the cost of medicare in check it's my hope that all drugs and procedures can be negotiated even more.

In theory, yes. In practice, we'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if in the fine print Medicare premium money is now going directly to the pharmaceutical companies for "research." Could end up paying the same or more, just not directly for the drugs. So many things in politics are a shell game now.

That's exactly what many base their beliefs and talking points on these days.

What I know for sure is that two of the drugs I take are on that list., I pay roughly $500 per month for each. For me, it's a big savings.

I recognize you don't want to give Biden credit for anything otherwise MAGA will pull your membership card, but geez, I'm pointing out an exact issue and cost savings to me.

We'll see what happens when it actually goes into effect.

You/they/whoever can keep the imaginary MAGA card. If I'd ever had one, I'd have burnt it a long time ago.

It sounds good. Whether you'll actually see the savings you expect remains to be seen.

"Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me." Politicians are good at making claims that don't always materialize as they made you believe.

Meanwhile others base their beliefs on other people's talking points.

What exactly am I allegedly basing my beliefs off of in that quotation? What's expressed there that no one but you can see?

Or were you trying to say that you base your beliefs and talking points off of random partial quotations taken out of context?

For the next round of cuts, they are working on an additional 15 drugs

If I remember correctly your on medicare or a medicare suppliment. If so next year your out of pocket limit for all scripts in $2,000 for the entire year. After that your scripts are covered 100 percent so your already going to save hell of a lot. So if your already paying $2,000 per month, your scripts will be free from Feburary to December. Instead of May through Decembers as it would have been this year. So medicare is going to save you $6,000 in 2025 verses what you paid in 2024.

Thank you president Biden.

Do YOU actually pay that out of pocket? Or is that what your meds cost, total, per month and you only pay a portion of that yourself, out of pocket?

I base my opinion on the legislation actually passed. That's not a talking point. well maybe in your world. What you are doing in your quote is coming up with a predetermined result even after legislation has been passed and before any actual results have been shown. The price cuts on insulin already took effect on Jan. 1st 2024. In case you missed it, that's not a talking point.

That's evidence unlike "I wouldn't be surprised if".

That's just my out of pocket. My zenpep alone is 22,000 for a three month supply. I pay 2,200 of that.

The old saying "walk a mile in my shoes" is so true for people who never have. It sounds like the $2000 annual cap will greatly benefit you and yours. I'm happy for you. You deserve it my friend.

And project 2025 repeals the Inflation Reduction Act so it would kill the negotiated pricing on drugs for Medicare patients, and the $2000 yearly out of pocket cost.

Also would repeal the $35 insulin cap

Nice attempt at a bait and switch. I never claimed a result. I've repeatedly said we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.

You base your opinion off internet articles. You didn't read the actual legislation, did you?

So you think the fact that drug prices on insulin has already taken effect is an opinion based on internet articles? I base my opinion on the fact that some of those price cuts are already in effect and others have been approved and are in the works. You know, evidence. You keep regurgitating your own talking points despite the evidence at hand and then point the finger at others as if that's what they're doing.

You're basing this one thing now, completely separate from what you said earlier, on fact. After you'd been spinning some BS earlier after pulling a butchered quote out of context.

Yes, I know, everyone is supposed to agree that you've been talking about this new point the "whole time" and ignore all the other nonsense you've written.

Since you're the one making the accusations here, then point where all of my opinions are......


I mean if you're going to toss BS at least attempt to back it up instead of just flinging dung into the air.

Fake News.

There is absolutely nothing to indicate the IRA would be fully repealed. The drug pricing provisions have been popular among constituents across all political affiliations.

I call bs, not because it's impossible, but because acting like it's a done deal is fake.

Did you read the legislation? If so, can you link it? All you typically link are random internet articles.

Edit: A quick scan through this thread show your use of sources such as "investopedia.com," "axios.com," a clip of the Wizard of Oz from Youtube.com, and "cnn.com." Lots of sites run by commercial organizations, put in other words, "random internet articles."

Maybe you should look at those articles. They contain factual information and often times direct quotes. So yes, I post factual information where I find it. Facts are not opinions which was your assertion. If you can actually refute the facts contained in those articles please do. Otherwise all you're doing is citing sources used and not whether the contents were facts or opinions.

And I would like to point out there are parts of her economic plan I disagree with. But what she stated is widely available if you're actually interested is seeing it.

Its in the plan....and they don't give a crap if something is popular or not

Page 465

l Repeal harmful health policies enacted under the Obama and Biden
Administrations such as the Medicare Shared Savings Program28 and
Inflation Reduction Act.29

Medicare Part D Reform. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created a drug
price negotiation program in Medicare that replaced the existing private-sector
negotiations in Part D with government price controls for prescription drugs.
These government price controls will limit access to medications and reduce
patient access to new medication.

This “negotiation” program should be repealed, and reforms in Part D that
will have meaningful impact for seniors should be pursued.