October, 28 2021, 11:59am EDT

Excluding Medicare Drug Price Negotiations From Build Back Better Would Be a Disaster, But It's Not Too Late to Improve the Deal
Today the White House unveiled its framework for the Build Back Better package, which excludes Medicare drug price negotiation and expanded benefits for dental and vision. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
"Americans of all political persuasions overwhelmingly support giving Medicare robust authority to negotiate drug prices in order to deliver cost savings for all Americans and to improve Medicare to cover dental and hearing care."
WASHINGTON
Today the White House unveiled its framework for the Build Back Better package, which excludes Medicare drug price negotiation and expanded benefits for dental and vision. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
"Americans of all political persuasions overwhelmingly support giving Medicare robust authority to negotiate drug prices in order to deliver cost savings for all Americans and to improve Medicare to cover dental and hearing care."
"There is one reason, and one reason only, not to move on Medicare price negotiation: the political power of Big Pharma."
"Failing to take this opportunity to end Big Pharma price-gouging will mean Americans will continue to go without medicines they need: one-in-four Americans report rationing or skipping prescriptions because of high prices. It will mean that many of those who do find a way to pay for needed medications will face economic insecurity."
"Similarly, Americans overwhelmingly support improving Medicare to cover the health services that everyone needs, including dental and vision care."
"Failing to deliver on campaign promises and use this moment to expand Medicare to cover dental and vision will leave millions of seniors unable to get the dental and vision care they need. The numbers are stark: 70% of seniors who had trouble eating because of their teeth had not been to the dentist in the past year and also that 40% of seniors with vision troubles had not had an eye exam in the past year."
"Bowing to Big Pharma and other industry interests at the expense of the American people is also an enormous political mistake. Addressing drug corporation price gouging is something that Democrats ran on, and now they will fail to deliver. In poll after poll, Medicare drug price negotiation and Medicare improvements are among the most popular components of the Build Back Better set of policies and among those that Americans are most passionate about. Failing to deliver will increase cynicism, depress civic engagement and make people doubt that government can work for them."
"The political problem goes beyond electoral calculus. Among significant numbers of Americans, there is growing a dangerous alienation and embrace of conspiracy thinking. When people see big, powerful corporations exerting control over government at the expense of regular folks' desperate needs, that alienation will only grow."
"It's not too late for the 'adults in the room' to tell conservative Democrats who are obstructing agreement on Medicare drug pricing and Medicare improvements that they must accede to the will of the majority - the majority of their caucus and the majority of the American people - rather than Big Pharma donors and other health industry interests."
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Analysis Shows How GOP Attack on SNAP Could Cut Food Assistance 'From Millions' in Low-Income Households
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As congressional Republicans mull potentially imposing stricter work requirements for adults who rely on federal nutrition aid as part of a push to pass a GOP-backed reconciliation bill, an analysis from the progressive think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released Wednesday states that such a move could take away food "from millions of people in low-income households" who are having a hard time finding steady employment or face hurdles to finding work.
The analysis is based on a proposal regarding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), which, if enacted, the group estimates would translate into an estimated 6 million people being at risk of losing their food assistance.
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Per CBPP, current SNAP rules mandate that most adults ages 18-54 without children may receive food benefits for only three months in a three-year period unless they prove they are participating in a 20-hour-per-week work program or prove they have a qualifying exemption.
Under Johnson's proposal, work requirements would apply to adults ages 18-65, and they would also be expanded to adults who have children over the age of seven. Per CBPP, Johnson's proposal would also "virtually eliminate" the ability of states to waive the three-month time limit in response to local labor market conditions, like in cases where there are insufficient jobs
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Earlier this month in a separate decision, the Supreme Court ruled that migrants being deported under the Alien Enemies Act must be provided with due process to challenge their removal.
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments over what could become the country's first taxpayer-funded religious charter school—and opponents of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School renewed their warnings about the proposal.
Faith leaders, parents, and educators celebrated last June, when the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against establishing St. Isidore. The test case for all such schools has now advanced to the country's highest court, which has a right-wing supermajority.
Reporting on over two hours of arguments Wednesday, Law Dork's Chris Geidner wrote that "the religious supremacy movement from the right's majority on the U.S. Supreme Court—with its outside helpers—appeared likely to... OK the first religious charter school in the country."
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It appears very likely that the Supreme Court will force Oklahoma to approve and fund a Catholic charter school that reserves the right to indoctrinate students in Catholicism, force them to attend mass, and discriminate against non-Catholics. The three liberals sound increasingly exasperated.
— Mark Joseph Stern ( @mjsdc.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
According toThe Associated Press:
If Roberts sides with the liberals, the court would be tied 4-4, an outcome that would leave the state court decision in place, but would leave the issue unresolved nationally.
If he joins his conservative colleagues, on the other hand, the court could find that the taxpayer-funded school is in line with a string of high court decisions that have allowed public funds to flow to religious entities. Those rulings were based on a different part of the First Amendment that protects religious freedom.
Roberts wrote the last three of those decisions. He acknowledged at one point that the court had previously ruled that states "couldn't exclude religious participants," suggesting support for St. Isidore.
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American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said in a statement after the arguments that "we respect religious education and the Founders' intention in separating church and state."
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The country's other leading teachers union also opposes the establishment of the Oklahoma school. National Education Association president Becky Pringle said in a statement this week that "every student—no matter where they live, what they look like, or their religion—deserves access to a fully funded neighborhood public school that gives them a sense of belonging and prepares them with the lessons and life skills they need."
"Allowing taxpayer dollars to fund religious charter schools would put both public education and religious freedom at risk," Pringle asserted, "opening the door to more privatization that undermines our public education system."
Proud to join @faithfulamerica.bsky.social outside of SCOTUS ahead of oral arguments in the OK religious charter school case, which challenges whether public funds can be used to support religious charter schools. As religious Americans, we say the separation of church and state is good for both!
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— Interfaith Alliance (@interfaithalliance.org) April 30, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Chris Yarrell, an attorney at the Center for Law and Education, similarly warned in a Common Dreams opinion piece earlier this month that "if the court sides with St. Isidore, the ripple effects could be seismic, triggering a wave of religious charter school applications and fundamentally altering the landscape of public education."
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