Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/17/shkrelism.html
…
6 Likes
So why is it the list price? And why is it ok to gouge the ones that, by the company’s own admission, pay that price?
Their defence is so bad, it’s basically an admission of guilt.
28 Likes
Yes, you are correct.
16 Likes
Not to mention that the burden of proof is then on the manufacturers to show what people are actually paying. They benefit from price opacity here.
1 Like
- If you don’t buy this substance, you die.
- Depending on where you are, and who you are, the price varies massively.
- You will be arrested if you try to import it from foreign sources.
What could this possibly lead to:
11 Likes
Basically they are saying, “So what are you going to do about it?” And since they own the congressmen, the answer is not much.
13 Likes
The Dispatch that the majority of patients don’t pay the list price for the drug.
Bullshit. More and more people even with ‘decent’ insurance are being forced into high-deductible plans where you pay full price until the deductible is met, with that deductible getting higher and higher every year. My insurance still covers the price a little bit, so I ‘only’ pay $600 for a three month supply of insulin until I reach the yearly deductible, after which it’s $100.
And I can tell you I am very aware of the fact that I would be dead in a few days if I didn’t have insulin. I’m very fortunate here too in that my doctor is very good about purposely inflating my insulin prescription so that I can buy more than I need, and so I have a several month emergency supply in my refrigerator. Many other diabetics aren’t nearly so lucky.
13 Likes
9 Likes
the majority of patients don’t pay the list price
Pharmaceutical companies can set an insane list price, negotiate a huge “discount” with the insurance companies, and even give away large volumes through in-house charitable giving programs. Why? Because Medicare pays the list price and cannot, by law, negotiate a lower price.
I don’t know if the high list price increases the tax deductions for the charitable give-aways (or if that is based on true cost).
5 Likes
Wow. That is utter horseshit. I never knew of this, how the hell the French put up with that without revolting…
oh wait…
8 Likes
Greed is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, in this case literally.
5 Likes
Unfortunately, it’s deadly for other people. For the sinner, everything’s fine.
10 Likes
The reason for cheaper prices under employer plans is the massive hidden subsidy https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/health/health-insurance-tax-deduction.amp.html
Also you can purchase insulin over the counter in Canada for 1/10 the list price in the us. I have done so.
3 Likes
I trust you… to figure out your own healthcare.
I’m not a Buttigieg backer, but is this meme fair in the context of this thread?
My understanding is that his statement was in support of everyone being able to choose either medicare or private insurance (i.e. opening medicare to all but not immediately implementing universal healthcare as the only option).
Personally, I want to see universal healthcare and support other candidates. Still, this meme suggests that Buttigieg is offering the status quo (and mocking us, to boot), but a medicare opt-in would be miles ahead of what we have now.
Less-than-perfect is not the same as Trump / McConnell / Mr. Republican Guy endorsing the present system (or likely worse).
If I am wrong about his position, please let me know.
2 Likes
Here insulin is free because Diabetes is considered an chronic disease.
Besides shouldn’t insulin considered a generic, so every pharmaceutical company end even the pharmacist could sell it?
5 Likes
So technically in the land of the free the state is subsidizing pharmaceutical companies.
Make Medicare bid for the lowest price (like is in Italy btw) and pay only that quote, the exceeding one is not covered.
So the brand name version will cost only a bit more the generic version.
3 Likes
I’m so glad to live in Finland, where the cost of insulin is 100% covered by the government for diabetics who need it.
4 Likes
People with diabetes are increasingly rationing their insulin, a practice that can be lethal.
Heeeey, that was my yesterday. I ran out of insulin so I fasted all day. I make 6 figures so I could’ve bought some retail, but I’ll be damned if I’ll pay a 10,000% markup on a 25-year-old drug (Humalog). I’d rather go hungry.
I hate my job but can’t quit without finding another, or there I am with that markup. I used to wonder why American companies don’t advocate for single-payer since it’s such an enormous expense, here’s why. Controlling you and your family’s access to health care is the most powerful of cudgels for use against the wage slave.
8 Likes
When questioned about their costs, the insulin manufacturers told The Dispatch that the majority of patients don’t pay the list price for the drug.
= Don’t worry, we’re only fucking poor people to death. But of course because the USG is prohibited from negotiating on price they are really fucking over all of us that pay taxes.
edited to add. Which is STILL irrelevant. Most people is not everybody. Nobody should pay a horribly inflated price for life saving medication.
4 Likes
