4 ms·
Making a profit is not the same as profiteering. The relevant statutes define what the latter is.
by otterley 7y ago
Making a profit is not the same as profiteering. The relevant statutes define what the latter is.
- ModernMech 7y agoWhat about something like charging $500 per month for insulin?
- otterley 7y agoWhat about it?
- ModernMech 7y agoWell, I mean it seems like profiteering to me.
- H8crilA 7y agoIs there any good analysis of that? I'm not saying it's not "profiteering", I just find it puzzling that nobody had undercut them on prices yet. There must be a reason, and health care is very complicated, so I'm not even trying to generate hypotheses on my own (I'm definitely not qualified for that). I have little hope that those "hearings" will actually find the root cause of the problem. Related: see the old Martin Shkreli videos where he ruthlessly goes over the list of all drugs to find something where his company/companies can undercut the pricing of the status quo, looking for the highest margin profit potential / assumed fixed cost ratios. He is (well, was) obviously not the only one.
- otterley 7y agoWhat “seems like” profiteering isn’t necessarily aligned with what the law is. Did you read any of the statues? Here’s an example for California: https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/pricegougingduringdisasters https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/pricegougingduringdisasters
- ModernMech 7y agoI understand what "the law" says. I also know who writes the laws. I mean from a moral/logical standpoint it seems like profiteering. I guess I don't understand the difference between people taking advantage of others by price gouging during a disaster, and corporations taking advantage of people by price gouging due to a life threatening medical condition.
- salawat 7y agoSadly, the difference seems to be in the level of "clear and present danger" your life threatening medical condition represents to the life of others around you. If you have a condition effecting a relatively small population incapable of mustering enough leverage to get policy makers to move against corporate interests, you have a very uphill battle to fight.