Drug makers have begun to emerge as a favorite target for cost-cutting proposals from others in the healthcare sphere who hope to avoid the fiscal knife themselves, lobbyists and analysts say.
The six Democrats and six Republicans who make up the congressional "super committee" tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over 10 years are less than six weeks away from their Nov. 23 deadline to designate cuts.
Analysts say any deal could include $300 billion to $500 billion in reductions from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs -- a prospect that has thousands of healthcare lobbyists frantic to find ways to minimize damage for drug makers, insurers, hospitals, doctors, state governments, the elderly, the poor and the disabled.
"It's really sort of a shark tank," said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors.
The six Democrats and six Republicans who make up the congressional "super committee" tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over 10 years are less than six weeks away from their Nov. 23 deadline to designate cuts.
Analysts say any deal could include $300 billion to $500 billion in reductions from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs -- a prospect that has thousands of healthcare lobbyists frantic to find ways to minimize damage for drug makers, insurers, hospitals, doctors, state governments, the elderly, the poor and the disabled.
"It's really sort of a shark tank," said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors.