Feel The Bern on Prescription Drugs

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Americans pay, by far, the highest prices for prescription drugs in the entire world. When we talk about health care, we are talking about the need of the American people to be able to afford the medicine their health care providers prescribe. A life-saving drug does no good if the people who need it cannot afford that drug.

 

THE SANDERS PLAN TO LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES

 

https://berniesanders.com/issues/fighting-to-lower-prescription-drug-prices/

[zoogs]

I like it!

 

This is not a partisan issue. Most Americans – Republicans, Democrats, and independents – want Congress to do something about drug prices. Tens of thousands of Americans now spend more than $100,000 a year on prescription medications. Drug costs are out of control because that’s the way pharmaceutical companies want it. Other countries have national health insurance plans that negotiate better prices for all of their residents. In this country, however, drug lobbyists have been able to block all of these common-sense solutions that we must work to pass into law. That is unacceptable and that has got to change.

[cornographic]

I like it!

 

This is not a partisan issue. Most Americans – Republicans, Democrats, and independents – want Congress to do something about drug prices. Tens of thousands of Americans now spend more than $100,000 a year on prescription medications. Drug costs are out of control because that’s the way pharmaceutical companies want it. Other countries have national health insurance plans that negotiate better prices for all of their residents. In this country, however, drug lobbyists have been able to block all of these common-sense solutions that we must work to pass into law. That is unacceptable and that has got to change.

 

Wow, cool! Yeah, well, if you look at the 6 points it's basically what Canada and Euro countries do. Good stuff.

[zoogs]

Yeah, you'd really hope that whatever candidate that is out there from any party will support some of the broader points here.

 

Is it really the capitalist and small government way to get taken to the cleaners by drug companies? We're not pro-free market unless we have a government that can't negotiate with pharma to try and spend less of our tax dollars?

[cornographic]

Yeah, you'd really hope that whatever candidate that is out there from any party will support some of the broader points here.

 

Is it really the capitalist and small government way to get taken to the cleaners by drug companies? We're not pro-free market unless we have a government that can't negotiate with pharma to try and spend less of our tax dollars?

This is antithetic to anything that would be called "Republican". Hillary has a watered down version of gov't price negotiation, but The Bern has been all over this issue for years. Hillary is following Bernie's lead at this point, on a number of issues. But again, hers is the watered down version.

 

As to Big Pharma. Like all advanced industries in the U.S., R & D is usually subsidized by the taxpayer--i.e., "socialized", i.e., you and I, etc, pay for a good share of the development. In thias case, the R& D is handled thru the NIH. then, the drug, etc, gets passed alone to Merck, for e.g., and they sell it for profit. So, we pay for it at least twice. Big Pharma is essentially monopolized, so they can charge pretty much what they want, and this is reinforced by the fact that insurance--private or Fed(us again)--picks up the tab. This whole arrangement inflates the prices. If you do single payer, universal health care and the gov't negotiates the prices, it keeps the prices down since the gov't is the main buyer. If the drug causes side effects, well, then you pay for it again....and again. And this is what is called "the miracle of modern medicine".

 

There are no "free markets" in capitalism, never have been. Markets have always been subsidized, controlled, and protected. But what we have is basically socialization of the costs, privatization of the profits and further socialization of the "externalities"(pollution, bank bailouts, etc).

 

Democratic socialist countries just do more of the socialist part and less of the private profit part. In China, for e.g., they have caps on what CEOs can make:

 

 

 

In China, however, the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security have announced that executive pay at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be capped at 10 times the salary of any employee at the same firm. http://www.worldfinance.com/home/china-the-land-of-less-pay

 

Contrast that with the 400-800X salary differential of CEOs in the U.S. and the resulting huge economics disparities. Unfeddered capitalism is basically predatory.

 

(hint: food is your best medicine)