Trump’s Drug Plan Has the Right Idea

[Snake]

President Donald Trump has announced his first potentially strong action against America’s inordinate prescription drug prices — the first that could meaningfully lower Medicare drug spending. The idea is to narrow the gap between U.S. prices and those of other countries.

 

 

The plan is far from finished, and pushback from the pharmaceutical industry will be fierce. But to drive U.S. drug prices down, a move of this kind is going to be needed.

 

 

 

 

The strategy concentrates on drugs administered by doctors — mainly the newer, very expensive biologic drugs that treat cancer and chronic conditions such as arthritis and macular degeneration. Medicare’s prices for these drugs are nearly double the average paid in Europe, Japan and Canada. To close the gap, the Trump administration would benchmark Medicare payments to the average foreign price.

 

 

 

Trump blames America’s higher prices on “freeloading” foreign countries. “For decades other countries have rigged the system so that American patients are charged much more — and in some cases much, much more — for the exact same drug,” he said in announcing the plan on Thursday. He’s right — except that it’s the U.S. that has done the rigging, by arranging things so that the anomaly of high U.S. prices can continue.

 

 

 

Under the system he’s proposing — assuming it’s actually introduced — you wouldn’t expect U.S. prices to fall all the way to where foreign prices now stand. As producers adjusted to the rules, foreign prices would presumably rise. And they’d need to, if global profit margins and R&D budgets were to be maintained. The outcome isn’t certain: Other countries are adept at driving hard bargains, and they typically provide shorter patent protection than the U.S. allows, so competition from generics and biosimilars would continue to press down on their prices.

Nonetheless, Trump’s plan would let Medicare co-opt some of those advantages — in effect, clawing back a subsidy paid to foreign buyers — at considerable savings for the U.S. If Medicare had benchmarked its prices for 27 top doctor-administered drugs in 2016 (and foreign prices had stayed the same), the Department of Health and Human Services estimates it would have saved $8.1 billion.

The proposal would also end Medicare’s policy of paying a 6 percent premium to doctors for administering drugs, an absurd convention that encourages them to choose the most expensive treatment. The premium would be changed to a flat fee. That’s another good idea — and again, the companies will push back. (A similar effort by the Obama administration failed in 2016.)

Bear in mind, the plan isn’t yet fully worked out. It’s being advertised early, no doubt, to strengthen the Republican position on health care before the midterm elections. As it stands, the plan is for a pilot project covering half the country, to be phased in over five years. Even if it happens, drug prices at the pharmacy counter will stay high as long as the U.S. maintains its strong patent system and refuses to give Medicare the power to negotiate.

All that said, Trump’s plan is a refreshing change: an idea for lowering drug prices that might actually work.

https://www.breitbart.com/opinion/articles/2018-10-26/trump-s-drug-pricing-plan-is-a-good-idea

Edited October 27, 2018 by Snake

[Zambroski]

I like it but, it’s gonna be a tough fight.  Americans have been trained to take pills every day now and seek them out and ask for them by new at every chance they get.  We’re now a nation of primarily drugged up zombies and dropping prices, while helping with HI costs, won’t fix that.

 

[Mileage Psycho]

Competition is the fix.

[f7ben]

Sounds like socialism to me ...!!!!!1111   derp derp derp derp derp derp derp 

[steve from amherst]

The fix is having the person who pays for it actually give a fuck about how much it costs.

[motonoggin]

14 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

The fix is having the person who pays for it actually give a fuck about how much it costs.

Right. If you don't want to pay, don't get sick. Simple.

[steve from amherst]

1 minute ago, motonoggin said:

Right. If you don't want to pay, don't get sick. Simple.

That one flew over your head too? Dude get a clue.

[f7ben]

Just now, steve from amherst said:

That one flew over your head too? Dude get a clue.

Hey dumbfuck.......what you fucking posted makes zero sense. 

Kill yourself also please

[steve from amherst]

1 minute ago, f7ben said:

Hey dumbfuck.......what you fucking posted makes zero sense. 

Kill yourself also please

What I posted was the simple fact that insurance companies pay for most of the drugs in this country. They don't care how much it cost because they can only make 20%. The only way they can increase profits is by paying more. I thought you could figure that out on your own . But now that it is explained to you you can surly understand it.

[f7ben]

3 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

What I posted was the simple fact that insurance companies pay for most of the drugs in this country. They don't care how much it cost because they can only make 20%. The only way they can increase profits is by paying more. I thought you could figure that out on your own . But now that it is explained to you you can surly understand it.

The whole fucking thread and Trumps entire plan is concerning MEDICARE you dumbfuck......has nothing to do with insurance companies. Sweet fuck 

[steve from amherst]

Of course it does. Ya cant talk drug prices without talking about the majority of those on meds. 

[f7ben]

3 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

Of course it does. Ya cant talk drug prices without talking about the majority of those on meds. 

The taxpayer in this country pays for the majority of those on meds......not private insurance

[teamgreen02]

Orange man bad!

[steve from amherst]

7 hours ago, f7ben said:

The taxpayer in this country pays for the majority of those on meds......not private insurance

Got a link?

[f7ben]

Just now, steve from amherst said:

Got a link?

Got a brain?

Medicaire , medicaid , VA and all state programs........that is well over 60% of those insured .....those uninsured not even counted and they get free shit too

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/medicaid-and-medicare-enrollees-now-outnumber-full-time-private-sector-workers

[steve from amherst]

Just now, f7ben said:

Got a brain?

Medicaire , medicaid , VA and all state programs........that is well over 60% of those insured .....those uninsured not even counted and they get free shit too

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/medicaid-and-medicare-enrollees-now-outnumber-full-time-private-sector-workers

Interesting. Was only 1 out of 3 just a yr or so ago.

[f7ben]

2 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

Interesting. Was only 1 out of 3 just a yr or so ago.

Think about how many are on VA and State plans too........we need to just go to a responsible single payer play

[steve from amherst]

5 minutes ago, f7ben said:

Think about how many are on VA and State plans too........we need to just go to a responsible single payer play

Then get ready for a 100% tax increase. Because HC costs in this country equal the total federal budget.

[f7ben]

1 minute ago, steve from amherst said:

Then get ready for a 100% tax increase. Because HC costs in this country equal the total federal budget.

That is not even close to how it would go down......HC costs in this country are largely already paid by the taxpayer.....so it wouldnt be a fucking 100% increase. Sweet fuck dude

[steve from amherst]

Acording to your 7 yr old link there are still 112 million people on private insurance.

[f7ben]

2 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

Acording to your 7 yr old link there are still 112 million people on private insurance.

just kill yourself......youre too dumb to have this conversation

We just covered the fact that a large majority of people are on various public taxpayer funded plans.......and you come back with

'HC costs in this country are the size of the fed budget.....get ready for 100% tax increase derp derp derp derp derp"

Can you see how fucking stupid that is for fuck sakes????????

[steve from amherst]

Dude when you add 112 million people to medicare the cost will go up. Even momo understands that.

[f7ben]

1 minute ago, steve from amherst said:

Dude when you add 112 million people to medicare the cost will go up. Even momo understands that.

You said 100% .....that is pure bullshit. Obviously the cost will go up.....a payroll tax paid for by employers will cover it. Employers are already stroking massive checks to cover HC costs. 

The money is being spent already and its being spent in the worst possible way.....the costs could be addressed if we are all in it together and we take the middle man out

[steve from amherst]

Projected costs are about 2.4 trillion per yr. Current federal costs are now 1.38 trillion per yr. So you are adding 1 trillion per yr. I was wrong taxes would only have to go up 33%.

[f7ben]

2 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

Projected costs are about 2.4 trillion per yr. Current federal costs are now 1.38 trillion per yr. So you are adding 1 trillion per yr. I was wrong taxes would only have to go up 33%.

Yes.....now take into account that the majority of those without care are healthy and risking it.....and the bulk of that 1 trillion is already being paid by employers and you can begin to get your head around this. 

Also we shift a large amount of the non insured care from emergency rooms to clinics if people have coverage......then you take into account lessening the severity of condition based on people having access to preventative care etc etc etc. Its the only way forward and it makes sense. 

Edited October 27, 2018 by f7ben