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This is great news for those that take insulin, for drug manufacturers, Democrat politicians, and (in the short term) for insurance companies. It's terrible fo
by Auracle 5y ago
This is great news for those that take insulin, for drug manufacturers, Democrat politicians, and (in the short term) for insurance companies. It's terrible for everyone else.
If consumers are paying $300 a month they might decide to take a cheaper insulin instead, move to a generic if possible, maybe even get their type 2 diabetes under control before they need insulin, etc. Now that it's capped for them - why should they care? Their insurance will pay for it.
Because how much insurance companies can charge is tied to how much they pay out, they now get to raise their prices and profits. Because they all need to compete with each other, they normally couldn't do this all on their own. This is essentially government mandated price fixing - or perhaps another term is better?
There's absolutely nothing stopping the insulin manufacturers from raising their prices even more now. They'll want to slowly boil that frog just so they don't come under pressure, but that's fine by them.
Finally, this is good for the Democrats because most people don't realize the above and think they price was actually capped to $35. The comments on Reddit about this show it pretty well, calling out Republicans for not voting in favor of it. How dare they? In the end it'll be great for them in two ways, because insurance prices are going to keep going up to ridiculous levels until people decide that we need to move to a socialized system.
Medical prices are out of control in our country and the lack of price discovery is exactly why. I've commented before on this, but when I was prescribed testosterone I was put on Androgel. Androgel was $400 a month. Injections are something like $10 a month and work better in every way. There's now a pill you can take for the low cost of $1,000 a month. If people actually had to pay that cost up front, they might decide to go through the hassle of injecting themselves once a week or two.
We either need to making insurance in to actual insurance again, meaning a very high deductible, or we need price controls. Anything else is a terrible idea. Mandating high deductibles is probably a no-go politically, but price controls would be easy. Cap the costs of medications and procedures/visits to the average of 5 other first world countries. Bam. Done.
- nsv 5y agoI agree completely that better price discovery would help the issues greatly. Many times the doctor's office will not even be able to tell you how much a procedure or medication costs until after you get it, which is nuts. If there were more competition in the medical world practices like this would quickly die out (imagine if a grocery store didn't post any prices for its items!)
- nradov 5y agoHealthcare providers are now legally required to provide cost estimates for uninsured patients. https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers/understanding-costs-in-advance https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers/understanding-cost...
- Auracle 5y agoI had my nose cauterized recently for bloody noses - just one side as the doctor said we couldn't do both at once. Nearly $300 for the visit, and another $300 for the "procedure," which entails the doctor sticking a stick with some silver nitrate up your nose. So, $600 for (at most) 10 minutes of work for the doctor, and maybe another 10 minutes for the nurse. Someone making $15 an hour would have to work an entire week for that, and for me it's over a day's worth. People should be disgusted. The only reason they aren't is because their insurance usually covers things.
- djyaz1200 5y agoThanks for the thoughtful analysis of the potential implications. I'd consider adding a policy mechanism that ranks all procedures and medications in terms of their necessity and cost/benefit; and cutting off what's covered at whatever point is required to keep the system financially solvent. This was proposed 10+ years ago by Oregon's Governer at the time who is a physician. Article here... https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=133446236 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=133446... Relevant excerpt... "The state maintains a list of nearly 700 medical procedures ranked in order of priority. Right now only the top 502 items on that list are covered by the Oregon Health Plan."
- oliwarner 5y ago> maybe even get their type 2 diabetes under control before they need insulin, etc. Now that it's capped for them - why should they care? You seem to be suggesting a perception that having insulin-managed diabetes is okay. That injecting yourself multiple times a day, monitoring your blood sugar constantly for fear of losing limbs or vision is ... what? Not as scary as not being able to afford the insulin? If you need a stick to make people look after themselves, perhaps there's something else that's wrong.