A coalition of health-care companies has kicked off a multimillion-dollar campaign in support of individual tax credits as the best way to reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
The Washington-based Healthcare Leadership Council, which includes several Chicago-area companies as members, believes tax credits would help the nation’s nearly 44 million uninsured pay for health coverage.
The group plans to spend up to $5 million on a grass-roots marketing and educational blitz across the country intended to convince the public and Congress that tax credits are the critical link to affordable health insurance, the council said at a meeting last week in Chicago.
Furthermore, member companies also will contribute their lobbying clout in Washington as Congress considers ways during this fall’s session to reduce the numbers of uninsured.
More than 40 companies are backing the effort, including medical product giants Abbott Laboratories of North Chicago and Baxter International Inc. of Deerfield; Downers Grove-based health insurer First Health Group Corp.; and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, which owns three hospitals and several doctor practices in the northern suburbs.
“A lot of this comes down to education,” said Baxter Chief Executive Harry Kraemer, who attended last week’s press briefing at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.
Yet some observers were skeptical that Congress would back tax credits at a time when a number of federal programs are being squeezed.
But council members said they believe they have bipartisan support for their endeavor and expect it to gain momentum, given the increasing number of layoffs and the potential for those workers to lose their health insurance coverage.
“Eighty percent of the uninsured are in wage-earning households,” said Ronald Dollens, CEO at Guidant Corp., an Indianapolis-based maker of medical devices.
For now, the council has yet to back a specific bill but believes a tax credit in the range of $1,000 to $2,000 per uninsured individual would be enough to help them get into an affordable health plan.
New antibiotic to debut: TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc. said it soon will begin marketing its third major treatment, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month approved the company’s antibiotic Spectracef.
Lake Forest-based TAP, which sells the prostate cancer drug Lupron and the heartburn pill Prevacid, is generating nearly $4 billion in annual sales for its owners, Abbott Laboratories and Japan-based Takeda Chemical Industries.
Although Spectracef’s sales will be an important addition to TAP, the treatment for chronic bronchitis and other infections is entering a crowded field of antibiotics that will keep it from enjoying the blockbuster status of the company’s other drugs.
Analysts estimate Spectracef sales may peak at about $200 million within five years. By comparison, Lupron sales are $800 million annually and sales of Prevacid, the nation’s No. 3 selling brand-name prescription after cholesterol drug Lipitor and heartburn drug Prilosec, have surpassed $3 billion annually.
