Drug Industry Pledges $80 Billion

President Obama heralded a “turning point” in health care on Saturday, as Senator Max Baucus and the White House announced that the pharmaceutical industry agreed to spend $80 billion over the next decade on health care reform. According to the agreement, the industry will pay for half of the cost of brand-name drugs for seniors in the so-called donut rule—a gap in coverage in many of the prescription-drug coverage plans. "The agreement by pharmaceutical companies to contribute to the health reform effort comes on the heels of the landmark pledge many health industry leaders made to me last month, when they offered to do their part to reduce health spending $2 trillion over the next decade," Obama said. "We are at a turning point in America's journey toward health care reform."