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Idk why any politicians arent picking up on foreign price controls as a means of lowering costs in the US. It should be a part of the discussion during any trad

Idk why any politicians arent picking up on foreign price controls as a means of lowering costs in the US. It should be a part of the discussion during any trade talks with Europe.

nemo44x 5y ago
The problem is chemistry isn’t that different from software. Once you publish the idea it isn’t too difficult to derive the chemical composition. Replication is the easy part. Design and testing cost money. So in essence we’d have to design drugs and not publish the chemistry which would be uncovered soon enough anyways. This leads to a situation where investment dollars go into other things and human health suffers, especially with so-called rare diseases. Not to mention the USA loses hegemony. The USA provides Europe with a great deal of military technology and protection as well as medicine but it isn’t for free. The EU exchanges agency in many ways important strategically to American interests. It’s mainly a fair deal.
dmitriid 5y ago
What you're literally saying is: instead of ending predatory pricing, enforce it for the rest of the world. Here's a novel idea: cut military spending in half, and you can provide all the free medicine to all Americans for the rest of their lives. All the while making the world a safer place.
- l33t2328 5y ago
  Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military? Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector.
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    I wasn't, so I went and looked it up and you were right from what I found - Healthcare: The federal government spent nearly $1.2 trillion in fiscal year 2019. In addition, income tax expenditures for health care totaled $234 billion. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-federal-government-spend-health-care https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-... Defense: Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t
    - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
      although I guess it is true the U.S could cut defense spending less than in half and pay 234 billion for everyone, so the original comment isn't totally off.
      - l33t2328 5y ago
        That’s not accounting private insurance, which is more than a trillion per year[1] [1] https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...
        bryanrasmussen 5y ago
        thanks! didn't know that.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - VictorPath 5y ago
      > Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. So the US military budget is only that low if your definition of "defense" spending does not cover that. The reality is the US spends over one trillion a year in military spending. Your own link says as much. It puts "Veteran's medical care" under the health care entitlement side of the equation, as opposed to the military spending side of the equation.
      - l33t2328 5y ago
        > A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. Where are you getting that? From here https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf and the link in the comment you responded to it seems that it is only about 80 billion. Even if you add that to the 700 billion figure for the military, and add 200 billion for the entire VA, Medicare and Medicade alone account for well over a trillion dollars, and that’s not even the majority of healthcare expenses in the US.
  - dmitriid 5y ago
    > Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military At least 34% of that is spent on admin alone: https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. > Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector It would be way more than enough if there was some political will behind it.
    - l33t2328 5y ago
      > and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. It’s true that the plurality of healthcare costs are private insurance, but medicare and medicade combine to a little less than twice the entire defense budget. The US government could cut significantly into the out of pocket expenses if they halved the defense budget. This link is interesting: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...
Glawen 5y ago
How on earth would that happen? It will just be as expensive in Europe as in the US. You really think that nobody outside the US are making drugs? Like no drugs are ever developed in Europe??
- perryizgr8 5y ago
  > It will just be as expensive in Europe as in the US. Cost can be shared among the US and Europe populations. So per user cost would come down by a lot.

Idk why any politicians arent picking up on foreign price controls as a means of lowering costs in the US. It should be a part of the discussion during any trade talks with Europe.

nemo44x 5y ago

The problem is chemistry isn’t that different from software. Once you publish the idea it isn’t too difficult to derive the chemical composition. Replication is the easy part. Design and testing cost money. So in essence we’d have to design drugs and not publish the chemistry which would be uncovered soon enough anyways. This leads to a situation where investment dollars go into other things and human health suffers, especially with so-called rare diseases. Not to mention the USA loses hegemony. The USA provides Europe with a great deal of military technology and protection as well as medicine but it isn’t for free. The EU exchanges agency in many ways important strategically to American interests. It’s mainly a fair deal.

dmitriid 5y ago

What you're literally saying is: instead of ending predatory pricing, enforce it for the rest of the world. Here's a novel idea: cut military spending in half, and you can provide all the free medicine to all Americans for the rest of their lives. All the while making the world a safer place.

l33t2328 5y ago
Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military? Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  I wasn't, so I went and looked it up and you were right from what I found - Healthcare: The federal government spent nearly $1.2 trillion in fiscal year 2019. In addition, income tax expenditures for health care totaled $234 billion. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-federal-government-spend-health-care https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-... Defense: Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    although I guess it is true the U.S could cut defense spending less than in half and pay 234 billion for everyone, so the original comment isn't totally off.
    - l33t2328 5y ago
      That’s not accounting private insurance, which is more than a trillion per year[1] [1] https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...
      - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
        thanks! didn't know that.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - VictorPath 5y ago
    > Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. So the US military budget is only that low if your definition of "defense" spending does not cover that. The reality is the US spends over one trillion a year in military spending. Your own link says as much. It puts "Veteran's medical care" under the health care entitlement side of the equation, as opposed to the military spending side of the equation.
    - l33t2328 5y ago
      > A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. Where are you getting that? From here https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf and the link in the comment you responded to it seems that it is only about 80 billion. Even if you add that to the 700 billion figure for the military, and add 200 billion for the entire VA, Medicare and Medicade alone account for well over a trillion dollars, and that’s not even the majority of healthcare expenses in the US.
- dmitriid 5y ago
  > Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military At least 34% of that is spent on admin alone: https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. > Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector It would be way more than enough if there was some political will behind it.
  - l33t2328 5y ago
    > and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. It’s true that the plurality of healthcare costs are private insurance, but medicare and medicade combine to a little less than twice the entire defense budget. The US government could cut significantly into the out of pocket expenses if they halved the defense budget. This link is interesting: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...

Glawen 5y ago

How on earth would that happen? It will just be as expensive in Europe as in the US. You really think that nobody outside the US are making drugs? Like no drugs are ever developed in Europe??

perryizgr8 5y ago
> It will just be as expensive in Europe as in the US. Cost can be shared among the US and Europe populations. So per user cost would come down by a lot.