4 ms·
> A vial of NovoLog, one type of insulin, costs15 anywhere from $14 to $300 in the United States but only $48 in Singapore, $14 in India, $6 in Austria, and $0
by RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago
> A vial of NovoLog, one type of insulin, costs15 anywhere from $14 to $300 in the United States but only $48 in Singapore, $14 in India, $6 in Austria, and $0 in Italy.
I think a reasonable solution without having to dictate details is to require pharmaceutical companies give the US most favored nation status - that is they must provide the US the same price as the country where it is sold for the cheapest. Perhaps you exclude developing nations from that calculation.
- willcipriano 3y agoI'd bet even buying at the 2nd most expensive OECD nations price would make a huge dent and seems more than reasonable for all the tax breaks and other incentives pharmacal companies receive.
- nine_k 3y agoI think that it only "costs" $0 in Italy because the actual cost is paid by some subsidy or insurance system. Also, insulin is a prescription medicine, so even in the absence of such confounding factors its price is not entirely market-driven; we have a nebulous understanding what the equilibrium price would be on a free market.
- clankyclanker 3y ago> we have a nebulous understanding what the equilibrium price would be on a free market. I can’t imagine a free market existing in the US without PS5-style-resellers immediately buying out the entire supply and jacking up the price for drugs people need to live. Not like that’s significantly different than what we have now, it’d just be a worse version.