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Nearly 20 million people. Sweden seemed to do okay with their health system, with half that.
by amiga_500 6y ago
Nearly 20 million people. Sweden seemed to do okay with their health system, with half that.
- sudosysgen 6y agoSweden is negotiating from a position of unshakable and absolute sovereignty, where if a drug company or medical supplier insists on an unreasonable price they can realistically pretend to either nationalize the company, switch to a state-owned competitor, in the case of suppliers and so on, or even decide not to observe the patent. Sweden is also insulated from lobbying in a way New York isn't, and is not reliant on direct and conditional funding from a higher government. New York has neither of these options.
- bhupy 6y agoNew York can FORCE Pharma providers, Hospitals, and doctors to accept its single payer insurance plan. These drug companies and medical suppliers would have to either cease to operate in NY or go out of business. The resulting vacuum from doing so presents an opportunity for new Pharma entrants, either other incumbent competitors, or new homegrown upstarts in NY. The demand doesn't go away, an there's revenue to be made.
- sudosysgen 6y agoSure, but the state of NY still has to respect patent law.
- bhupy 6y agoSure, the same way that Saskatchewan had to respect patent law in 1947 when it enacted its own single payer system — its population was 1/20th the population of all of Canada at the time.