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> Big Pharma has a very powerful lobbying arm that is against Medicare negotiating down prices. I particularly liked how all the Congresspeople involved in wri
by suzzer99 3y ago
> Big Pharma has a very powerful lobbying arm that is against Medicare negotiating down prices.
I particularly liked how all the Congresspeople involved in writing that the government couldn't negotiate drug prices into Medicare Part D immediately retired and went to work for the drug industry.
- consumer451 3y agoWhen faced with a regulatory issue in the USA, I often look at EU regs for reference. Here is their inquiry on the "revolving door" issue: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/decision/en/155953 https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/decision/en/155953
- LudwigNagasena 3y agoWeird how it’s framed as an issue of reputational damage. Ctrl+f “corruption”, 0 results.
- SilverBirch 3y agoIt’s much easier to tackle the “appearance” of corruption than actual corruption because it changes the burden of proof and doesn’t imply wrongdoing.
- refurb 3y agoWhat’s even funnier is this apparently powerful lobbying arm didn’t stop Congress from passing a law..that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices. https://www.cms.gov/inflation-reduction-act-and-medicare/medicare-drug-price-negotiation https://www.cms.gov/inflation-reduction-act-and-medicare/med...
- silverquiet 3y agoIf it took two decades from the creation of part D and a worldwide pandemic/financial disaster just to allow for price negotiation, I see that more as evidence of power rather than weakness. Good that it finally changed though. Democrats also put price caps on insulin which seems nice for diabetics.
- refurb 3y agoWell the kicker is that Medicare never paid the list price anyways. There are a ton of mandatory discounts the government gets. With Part B, Medicare pays average selling price, which is the average price private insurers pays. Then add on top 340B discounts which many hospitals get, which knocks another 23.1% off plus penalties for price increases above inflation (Google "340B penny pricing", many hospitals only pay $0.01 per unit of drug). With Part D, the government doesn't pay for drug anyways. Private insurers do the negotiating on behalf of he government. Then look can look up VA pricing (24% off at a minimum). Medicaid gets "best price" which is the lowest price the drug sells for anywhere. So the government has "negotiated" (by fiat) plenty of discounts. But saying "Medicare doesn't negotiate drug prices" makes plenty of political hay, and while technically true, doesn't really explain the prices the government gets.
- silverquiet 3y ago> Medicaid gets "best price" which is the lowest price the drug sells for anywhere. I'm guessing you mean anywhere in the US. Apparently Florida is currently pushing to import drugs from Canada. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-allow-florida-import-cheaper-drugs-canada-2024-01-05/ https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/...
- refurb 3y agoYes anywhere in the US. Private insurers often get discounts of 50%+, which then Medicaid gets. And sure Florida can try to import Canadian drugs. They tried that 20 years ago. The companies capped sales to Canada at no more than 10% of last years sales. Canada then put export restrictions in place to put prevent shortages. The US government has talked about price referencing Europe. Which would actually be great. Companies would be forced to increase European prices and lower US prices.
- silverquiet 3y agoI often find myself saying the US should do things like they do in Europe, but I'm told it's impossible for one reason or another (American Exceptionalism in some form or other no doubt), so that does have an appeal to me at least. I wonder though, given that these companies are generally (all?) for-profit entities, what stops them from raising prices in Europe now? It's always seemed a bit grim mixing market economics with human morbidity and mortality, but I would think the upshot is that you can really squeeze people for lots of money when their life is on the line.
- ossyrial 3y ago> I particularly liked how all the Congresspeople involved in writing that the government couldn't negotiate drug prices into Medicare Part D immediately retired and went to work for the drug industry. Wow that is wild. Could you share a source for this? I would love to look further into this.
- ta988 3y agoThat's a pretty standard practice in tobacco, banks, drug companies... Search for revolving doors <industry name> and you will find books and documentaries and articles ...