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Why does the same medication cost $10 in one country and $200 in the U.S.?
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Why does the same medication cost $10 in one country and $200 in the U.S.?
From insulin to inhalers, Americans consistently pay the highest drug prices in the world.
Why does the same medication cost $10 in one country and $200 in the U.S.?
From insulin to inhalers, Americans consistently pay the highest drug prices in the world.
Have you ever skipped, switched out or rationed a prescription because of cost?
What do you think might change now that President Trump has signed an executive order to end the unfair pricing?
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8 Replies
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Great chance this gets caught up in the courts. If action is warranted on behalf of the administration, we will see an equalizing of global pricing (US will decrease and EU will increase). The Pharma companies will actually use the opportunity to reset their entire pricing structure to where they pull more profits. Win for US and Pharma.
However this may hurt the local independent pharmacies as their reimbursements are going to drop dramatically, their EBITDA will drop dramatically, and hence put some out of business.
Let’s see how it unfolds.
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“Why does the same medication cost $10 in one country and $200 in the U.S.?”
Because we are the biggest baddest most powerful and are the richest country in the history of the world. So Capitalism demands we pay the higher price. At least this is what I have been hearing over and over from many politicians for decades and programmed daily from President Trump et.al.
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Ivermectin right now falls into this category. I was telling a family member I just started taking it and their first reaction was to say, “But it’s so expensive!”
When speaking economics and using the term “fair market value” it makes you question the “fair” part of the term.
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Yes absolutely. Fairness is very questionable and fair market value is very controversial and to who sets the value based on what metrics.
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A statement of support from the IMA
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This article in the UK daily The Guardian tries to explain matters:
Worth noting is that according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhMRA), the US is the only country in the world that let pharmacy benefit managers (PMBs) such as Cigna, CVS and UnitedHealth negotiate drug prices with pharma companies in the US.
Meanwhile, in other countries it is governments that determine the price of medications by negotiating directly with pharma companies, and often pay less.
theguardian.com
Drug price cuts: what is Trump planning and what will it mean for big pharma?
President has directed Robert Kennedy to send price targets to industry, with slimming drugs thought to be included
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👍 And who owns the PMB’s? As I understand it, the Medical Insurance companies. Happy to be corrected.
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Yes, as I see it (and I have to admit that I am not an American myself) the medical insurance companies are problematic in themselves.
Many other countries simply do not have the system that exists in the US, with medical insurance companies standing in between patients and the healthcare providers. Instead, citizens of a country may simply be entitled to some level of basic care in their home country, and in many countries (e.g. in Europe) that would also include fairly advanced medical care – without medical insurance companies acting “middle men”. True, you may have to pay a certain fee to see a doctor, but it would not be an exorbitant fee. And in some countries, you may also reach a cap after you have paid for a certain number of doctors visits or a certain amount worth of medicines, after which you are eligible for free healthcare and medicines for a certain time period.
I am not sure about this, but my guess is that the only US politician I can think of that would whole-heartedly endorse this type of system in the US would be Bernie Sanders. Feel free to disagree.
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