The Biden Presidency 2022

Quote: rxwine

I don't know if you saw them where you are but pharma has been running scare ads against any attempt to control prices.

Which is what brainwashed a lot of people against this legislation. People are afraid that innovation will be stifled because pharmaceutical companies cannot gouge Medicare any longer and that it will have the power that most Nation's healthcare systems have long held (the NHS would never pay close to what Medicare pays for drugs).

How much does Medicare pay for drugs vs. other buyers?

Quote: Gandler

People are afraid that innovation will be stifled because pharmaceutical companies cannot gouge Medicare any longer and that it will have the power that most Nation's healthcare systems have long held (the NHS would never pay close to what Medicare pays for drugs).

This bill is going to cause the price of drugs to increase for everyone.

It does not allow Medicare to control the price of drugs. It only allows Medicare to negotiate the price enrollees pay for drugs.

This will force the pharmaceutical companies to raise the prices for everyone else. And there are more of those than Medicare enrollees.

Drug patents only last twenty years from the date the drug was developed and the patent application was filed. It could take another eight or ten years for the patent to be issued, allowing the drug to be brought to market.

This gives the pharmaceutical company only ten or twelve years to recoup the costs of development and clear a profit.

If the government wants to make it any more difficult for them to profit, they are going to either increase drug prices across the board, or get out of the drug development business altogether.

Quote: Tanko

This bill is going to cause the price of drugs to increase for everyone.

It does not allow Medicare to control the price of drugs. It only allows Medicare to negotiate the price enrollees pay for drugs.

This will force the pharmaceutical companies to raise the prices for everyone else. And there are more of those than Medicare enrollees.

Drug patents only last twenty years from the date the drug was developed and the patent application was filed. It could take another eight or ten years for the patent to be issued, allowing the drug to be brought to market.

This gives the pharmaceutical company only ten or twelve years to recoup the costs of development and clear a profit.

If the government wants to make it any more difficult for them to profit, they are going to either increase drug prices across the board, or get out of the drug development business altogether.

If it were 50 years ago, I'd be more concerned about the development of new drugs. Sure there will still be some new drug that is a dramatic improvement over a previous drug but there are also a lot of drugs that are just a marginal improvement or even just an alternative. Paying a jacked-up price for the development of more alternatives or marginal improvements is not that crucial. .

Quote: Tanko

This bill is going to cause the price of drugs to increase for everyone.

It does not allow Medicare to control the price of drugs. It only allows Medicare to negotiate the price enrollees pay for drugs.

This will force the pharmaceutical companies to raise the prices for everyone else. And there are more of those than Medicare enrollees.

Drug patents only last twenty years from the date the drug was developed and the patent application was filed. It could take another eight or ten years for the patent to be issued, allowing the drug to be brought to market.

This gives the pharmaceutical company only ten or twelve years to recoup the costs of development and clear a profit.

If the government wants to make it any more difficult for them to profit, they are going to either increase drug prices across the board, or get out of the drug development business altogether.

Your argument is insane
Competition for Medicare business is a good thing

Quote: rxwine

If it were 50 years ago, I'd be more concerned about the development of new drugs. Sure there will still be some new drug that is a dramatic improvement over a previous drug but there are also a lot of drugs that are just a marginal improvement or even just an alternative. Paying a jacked-up price for the development of more alternatives or marginal improvements is not that crucial. .

Totally agree, that Covid Vaccine was complete crap.

Quote: JCW09

Totally agree, that Covid Vaccine was complete crap.

America has a lot of medical conditions that don't really need new drugs but lifestyle changes. And poor nations could use more drugs that we already developed years ago.

Quote: Tanko

This bill is going to cause the price of drugs to increase for everyone.

It does not allow Medicare to control the price of drugs. It only allows Medicare to negotiate the price enrollees pay for drugs.

This will force the pharmaceutical companies to raise the prices for everyone else. And there are more of those than Medicare enrollees.

Drug patents only last twenty years from the date the drug was developed and the patent application was filed. It could take another eight or ten years for the patent to be issued, allowing the drug to be brought to market.

This gives the pharmaceutical company only ten or twelve years to recoup the costs of development and clear a profit.

If the government wants to make it any more difficult for them to profit, they are going to either increase drug prices across the board, or get out of the drug development business altogether.

That is a circular argument. Private insurance already has the ability to negotiate with drug companies, why shouldn't Medicare. Medicare is the largest customer for drugs in America, they should no be used by the companies to milk for a profit.

What other State Health Service in the world would pay that much for drugs?

Every now and then you know more about an issue than the others on a forum, and have to read through a bunch of well intentioned but just plain wrong posts. This is a perfect example. Medicare does not negotiate fees that doctors get from them, they SET the fee they will pay doctors. An example from the last few years of my practice…. I’d get around $1000 for anesthesia for a total knee replacement from each of the three major local insurance companies. One might have been $940, the other $970, the last $1010. These prices were a result of me negotiating with each company separately. Medicare set my rate, no negotiating, no real ability to refuse to accept Medicare, at around $300. Other than refusing to treat Medicare patients (good luck trying that) you had NO CHOICE. if you can’t figure out that private insurance was subsidizing Medicare BIG TIME then I can’t help you.

I can’t know for sure exactly what will happen, but if Medicare is paying $100 for a drug now, and decides that from now on it is paying $50, what will the drug company be able to do? Say ‘no’ to Medicare? The first company that refuses to sell its drugs to Medicare is in for the public relations nightmare of their existence. The federal government buys gas, as an example. Does the federal government set the price it will pay for the gas? For the paper it uses? For the cars it buys? Imagine if it called Ford and said we are buying F-150’s and are paying $25k each. No negotiation. It’s half of your total sales. And you have no real choice.

Quote: SOOPOO

Every now and then you know more about an issue than the others on a forum, and have to read through a bunch of well intentioned but just plain wrong posts. This is a perfect example. Medicare does not negotiate fees that doctors get from them, they SET the fee they will pay doctors. An example from the last few years of my practice…. I’d get around $1000 for anesthesia for a total knee replacement from each of the three major local insurance companies. One might have been $940, the other $970, the last $1010. These prices were a result of me negotiating with each company separately. Medicare set my rate, no negotiating, no real ability to refuse to accept Medicare, at around $300. Other than refusing to treat Medicare patients (good luck trying that) you had NO CHOICE. if you can’t figure out that private insurance was subsidizing Medicare BIG TIME then I can’t help you.

I can’t know for sure exactly what will happen, but if Medicare is paying $100 for a drug now, and decides that from now on it is paying $50, what will the drug company be able to do? Say ‘no’ to Medicare? The first company that refuses to sell its drugs to Medicare is in for the public relations nightmare of their existence. The federal government buys gas, as an example. Does the federal government set the price it will pay for the gas? For the paper it uses? For the cars it buys? Imagine if it called Ford and said we are buying F-150’s and are paying $25k each. No negotiation. It’s half of your total sales. And you have no real choice.

It seems like the perfect solution to this would be have all of America under a single policy.