5 ms·

> Do you think folks in the US should be proud of subsidizing the rest of the world? I don't know what "pride" has anything to do with it. The US does subsidiz

> Do you think folks in the US should be proud of subsidizing the rest of the world? I don't know what "pride" has anything to do with it. The US does subsidize the rest of the world, implicitly, which is why any effort to reduce drug prices in the US will result in other countries paying more, in the long run. > Maybe the US should allow governments to negotiate drug prices. I don't know what you mean by "allow governments to negotiate drug prices". The US doesn't have any say in whether other countries negotiate prices domestically.

ddingus 7y ago
Many of those other countries have a much cheaper health care system that pools national risk and cost. That, when coupled with bulk pricing pressure negotiations, is very likely to mean marginal increases, if anything.
r00fus 7y ago
> I don't know what you mean by "allow governments to negotiate drug prices". The US doesn't have any say in whether other countries negotiate prices domestically. State and the Federal governments. The USG isn't the only governmental body in the USA. All are essentially blocked from negotiations by Federal law/policy. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/02/01/to-control-drug-prices-states-may-have-to-face-off-against-feds https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/sta...
- chimeracoder 7y ago
  > State and the Federal governments. The USG isn't the only governmental body in the USA. All are essentially blocked from negotiations by Federal law/policy. Why should the government "negotiate" prices that it's not paying? The prices are negotiated by the insurers who actually pay them, and they have far greater incentive than the government to keep them down. This system appears to work in the vast majority of OECD countries, where drug prices are not actually set by a central authority (contrary to popular misconception).
  - r00fus 7y ago
    The governments are payers. Medicare and Medicaid are examples of single-payer entities where drug price negotiation is not currently allowed by law.
    - chimeracoder 7y ago
      > Medicare and Medicaid are examples of single-payer entities where drug price negotiation is not currently allowed by law. No, Medicare doesn't negotiate drug prices because Medicare isn't a payer for pharmaceutical coverage. Those prices are negotiated by the private insurers who provide the benefits.

ddingus 7y ago

Many of those other countries have a much cheaper health care system that pools national risk and cost. That, when coupled with bulk pricing pressure negotiations, is very likely to mean marginal increases, if anything.

r00fus 7y ago

> I don't know what you mean by "allow governments to negotiate drug prices". The US doesn't have any say in whether other countries negotiate prices domestically. State and the Federal governments. The USG isn't the only governmental body in the USA. All are essentially blocked from negotiations by Federal law/policy. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/02/01/to-control-drug-prices-states-may-have-to-face-off-against-feds https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/sta...

chimeracoder 7y ago
> State and the Federal governments. The USG isn't the only governmental body in the USA. All are essentially blocked from negotiations by Federal law/policy. Why should the government "negotiate" prices that it's not paying? The prices are negotiated by the insurers who actually pay them, and they have far greater incentive than the government to keep them down. This system appears to work in the vast majority of OECD countries, where drug prices are not actually set by a central authority (contrary to popular misconception).
- r00fus 7y ago
  The governments are payers. Medicare and Medicaid are examples of single-payer entities where drug price negotiation is not currently allowed by law.
  - chimeracoder 7y ago
    > Medicare and Medicaid are examples of single-payer entities where drug price negotiation is not currently allowed by law. No, Medicare doesn't negotiate drug prices because Medicare isn't a payer for pharmaceutical coverage. Those prices are negotiated by the private insurers who provide the benefits.