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Health insurance companies have already said they will cover COVID without copay/deductibles. I am sure that there will be free/low cost options for people with

Health insurance companies have already said they will cover COVID without copay/deductibles. I am sure that there will be free/low cost options for people without any insurance. The people who profit from the current system know that there is a presidential election in November. They can't afford to let public opinion go against them. Ironically, I think that this event will cement the current system more.

amluto 7y ago
Which means that, once a treatment or vaccine is available, the vendor can charge essentially whatever they please. I think the federal government should buy or acquire by fiat the rights to produce remdesivir and contract, immediately, with multiple vendors to start mass production. If the trial pan out, the US alone may need enough to treat a few million people. If the trials don’t pan out, some money is lost. (I’m not saying Gilead shouldn’t be fairly compensated. By all means, pay them a few billion dollars. But don’t allow them to extract $50k per case. And don’t allow them to delay widespread availability while negotiating.) FWIW, China appears to be doing this right now. A Chinese company is manufacturing the drug now and is essentially ignoring the patent.
- fma 7y ago
  If I recall, in addition to ignoring the patent, the Chinese company is taking the Gilead drug, repurposing it and then owning a new patent for the Corona virus...
  - amluto 7y ago
    To some extent the legal wrangling its irrelevant. China is likely to want large amounts of the drug, and they aren’t waiting. Presumably there will be a lawsuit and a settlement. Gilead has very little leverage in China, unless they are able to outproduce the home grown manufacturer.
- rjzzleep 7y ago
  Let's not forget that the US did that with the Anthrax vaccination. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/oct/23/anthrax.businessofresearch https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/oct/23/anthrax.bus...
claudeganon 7y ago
> Health insurance companies have already said they will cover COVID without copay/deductibles. This has been said about testing and coverage for testing is included in the bill that passed the house. But I’ve seen it nowhere reported that this is true for treatment. What’s the source for this claim? > I am sure that there will be free/low cost options for people without any insurance. The only provision currently on the table is Medicaid expansion to states for treatment, but the amount of people who are or will be ineligible for Medicaid (assuming they got laid off) is quite large. I’m not certain how you can be “sure” of this.
- ma2rten 7y ago
  It turned out it was a misstatement by Trump: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/fact-check-copays-coronavirus-testing-treatment/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/fact-check-copays-co...

amluto 7y ago

Which means that, once a treatment or vaccine is available, the vendor can charge essentially whatever they please. I think the federal government should buy or acquire by fiat the rights to produce remdesivir and contract, immediately, with multiple vendors to start mass production. If the trial pan out, the US alone may need enough to treat a few million people. If the trials don’t pan out, some money is lost. (I’m not saying Gilead shouldn’t be fairly compensated. By all means, pay them a few billion dollars. But don’t allow them to extract $50k per case. And don’t allow them to delay widespread availability while negotiating.) FWIW, China appears to be doing this right now. A Chinese company is manufacturing the drug now and is essentially ignoring the patent.

fma 7y ago
If I recall, in addition to ignoring the patent, the Chinese company is taking the Gilead drug, repurposing it and then owning a new patent for the Corona virus...
- amluto 7y ago
  To some extent the legal wrangling its irrelevant. China is likely to want large amounts of the drug, and they aren’t waiting. Presumably there will be a lawsuit and a settlement. Gilead has very little leverage in China, unless they are able to outproduce the home grown manufacturer.
rjzzleep 7y ago
Let's not forget that the US did that with the Anthrax vaccination. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/oct/23/anthrax.businessofresearch https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/oct/23/anthrax.bus...

claudeganon 7y ago

> Health insurance companies have already said they will cover COVID without copay/deductibles. This has been said about testing and coverage for testing is included in the bill that passed the house. But I’ve seen it nowhere reported that this is true for treatment. What’s the source for this claim? > I am sure that there will be free/low cost options for people without any insurance. The only provision currently on the table is Medicaid expansion to states for treatment, but the amount of people who are or will be ineligible for Medicaid (assuming they got laid off) is quite large. I’m not certain how you can be “sure” of this.

ma2rten 7y ago
It turned out it was a misstatement by Trump: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/fact-check-copays-coronavirus-testing-treatment/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/fact-check-copays-co...