Bernie Sanders: I cannot understand the absurdity that it costs 10x as much for insulin in the USA as it does for the same exact drug in Canada
- Thread starter Morrison71
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He is likely looking at the list price; not at what that drug actually sells for.
The drug companies use the "Joseph A. Bank pricing model:" Set the price very high and then keep lowering the price until people find one they can afford.
In any case, no one actually pays that list price for drugs (or for certain brands of men's suits.)
The drug companies use the "Joseph A. Bank pricing model:" Set the price very high and then keep lowering the price until people find one they can afford.
In any case, no one actually pays that list price for drugs (or for certain brands of men's suits.)
Perhaps. Perhaps not. It is my experience that cash paying consumers of healthcare often pay near sticker price
How many "Cash" buyers are there? This entire market is driven by insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, and a few companies who offer discount pricing. (GoodRX?? ... I am not sure how they work, but my pharmacy routed a couple of my orders through them when I went into the Coverage Gap; they were even cheaper than Medicare.)
Everyone seems to be playing angles in this business ... Even buying generic is strictly speaking, a case of companies offering inferior quality drugs at a much lower price ... and then claiming the the quality is the same.
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Also, note that often times your copay at the pharmacy is higher than the cash and carry price for the same thing.
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I’m curious what all GoodRx covers? I’ve had to use it before for a drug my insurance didn’t cover and the price went from like $300 to about $18.
Regardless, I do think we need to figure out a way to drive down healthcare costs. In my view, part of lowering costs is penalizing people who refuse to get down to a reasonable weight with higher premiums. I also think government covering preventive medicine for those who are uninsured or underinsured would help as well. If we focused more on prevention and catching things early, a lot of people would not have serious health problems down the road that cost an arm and a leg to treat.
People die in the US for lack of insulin. 1 in 4 insulin users in the US are skimping on their dosages because of prices. On a drug whose patent was sold for $1 so that no one would ever go in need of it.
The inventors must be spinning in their graves.
The US model is broken.
The inventors must be spinning in their graves.
The US model is broken.
I am not even sure how it works; where the money comes from and so on. That is on my list of things to do.
My Rx plan through UHC seems to cost more than what I would pay just by using GoodRx. ... but maybe they are getting some sort of kickback from them. I am wondering why I am paying $118 a month for Rx and suddenly not even using it.
I have to look into it. It does not quite make sense.
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Bernie is a clown.
Can we all agree on this?
Can we all agree on this?
Because US consumers pick up the difference when places like Canada negotiate lower prices for themselves. That is the dirty secret of these types of healthcare systems that Canada uses....we subsidize it.
I think there’s some truth to this. R&D is expensive and seems to mainly take place in the US where the profit margins can justify it.
Ther is no r&d on insulin. It was developed decades ago. Stop defending the indefensible.
No, but we all agree you’re a clown.
It’s indefensible that they extort money from sick people for a drug they didn’t develop and make for pennies yet charge hundreds of dollars for because they know millions will die without it.
This I can agree with.
LOL...this is the secret of the drug companies and people like you buy it hook, line, and sinker. What would the poor drug companies do if they couldn't gouge Americans???
Explain then. You're going to contend that they need to charge exorbitant prices for a ridiculously cheap, necessary-for-life drug that millions use to fund their research?
Not even slightly.
In a sane society, his views would define "centrist" or "moderate."
We know that's not how it works, idiot. That's what we're complaining about.
Just because pharma has been getting away with this doesn't mean it's the right or best way to do things.
The problem is government regulations, not the industry. You need to spend so much money to get approval from the bureaucrats. And that's a big-ass barrier to entry for new competitors.
So your idea is that to make insulin cheaper we need to make drug testing less safe so that they can charge less for a drug that is already developed and approved. BUT it is the market setting prices also? You are an idiot.
No one is going to enter the market to sell insulin cheaper and undercut big pharma.
Stop and think why that paradigm exists.
A third of America, with the endorsement of folks on your side of the political spectrum, won't take vaccines because they don't trust them. Yet here you are arguing against regulations and approval processes - which are the very things that build trust.
SMH
Which safety regulations and approval steps would you eliminate?
I don’t know much about Bernie.
However, insulin should be cheap, like cheap af. There’s no R&D, other than method of injection, as far as I know.
However, insulin should be cheap, like cheap af. There’s no R&D, other than method of injection, as far as I know.
So you'd think someone would come out with a cheaper version. Why doesn't that happen?
If we were talking about virtually any other product except medicine, cheaper alternatives would flood the market if the "brand name" is perceived to be priced too high.
But not with drugs. Think... I mean REALLY THINK about why that might be.
Pretty much, until last year. Then your side decided to make it political, lie at will, and damn the fatalities.
I think it has something to do with deductibles too. If you use GoodRx or OptumPerks the amount you pay does not count towards your deductible. At least that’s what I was told by the Hy-Vee pharmacist.
It is cheaper in other countries. Why is this hard for you? We are getting raped and you defend it. Over and over you defend US citizens paying much more for the same medicine.
If you got a cut or kickback, I could understand you.
Your dumbass defends companies bankrupting your neighbors and patients and you don’t even get a cut.
This thread is a great reminder on just how big of a POS Trad is.
They're paying "less" in other countries because the market (which includes the regulatory costs of doing business) is different in other countries.
People in the US are dying or suffering poor health because they can’t bear the cost. Meanwhile, other countries citizens pay much less for insulin.
Why do you defend the indefensible without getting a cut?
Because losers like you are against socialized healthcare.
