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December 16, 2009

Measure to OK Drug Imports Fails in Senate
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As Democrats privately negotiate how extensively they’ll abandon public
healthcare, the Senate continues to vote on a series of key amendments.
On Tuesday, the Senate failed to pass an amendment that would have made
it easier for Americans to purchase cheaper, FDA-approved prescription
drugs abroad. The final vote was 51 to 48, nine short of the sixty
needed to overcome a filibuster. Thirty Democrats voted against the
proposal. Supporters say it would have saved US consumers around $80
billion over the next decade. The Obama administration had also opposed
the measure. Meanwhile, the Senate is poised to open debate today on an
amendment from Independent Senator Bernie Sanders to establish a
single-payer, universal healthcare system. Discussion of the Sanders
amendment will mark the first time a single-payer healthcare proposal
has ever been debated on the Senate floor.



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