“Big Pharma” is a symptom of a much larger issue in the USA. The root cause here is privatization of health care. I hate dealing with the health insurance midd

“Big Pharma” is a symptom of a much larger issue in the USA. The root cause here is privatization of health care. I hate dealing with the health insurance middlemen, and I supposedly have premium coverage. For some treatments my (in network) doctors prescribes, my insurance company will drag their ass through the approval and payout process. It’s slightly invisible to me, and the doctors office staff usually takes care of the appeals process to get themselves paid. Occasionally I get a doctors office that gives up after 1 appeal and tries to forward me the bill for the rest. End up having to appeal myself and get it approved. These vampires take their cut from my paycheck (in addition to the portion covered by my workplace). And they have the fucking nerve to deny treatments. Let’s not forget about the mess with “pharmacy benefit managers” and their associated fees (“DIR” fees) on pharmacies. Large chains typically tank these costs through volume, but end up squeezing out the mom & pop pharmacies.