[grania]

It’s a loss for the consumer in the long run because the pharmaceutical company has no incentive to come up with a cheaper drug or lower the costs on the existing one. The insurance companies don’t lose (they never do) because they get to raise the rates on everyone, even people who don’t use pharmaceuticals.

[RoosterRedux]

I follow the biotech industry as an investor and there is a huge incentive for biotech companies to come up with a cheaper drug so that they can beat Gilead in the market for effective hep C cures (in the case of Sovaldi). BTW Sovaldi is the first drug to offer a surefire cure for hep C in nearly all cases.

Here's an interesting tidbit I just located re: hep C cases in California...

A total of 501,664 confirmed chronic HCV infections were reported from 1994-2011.

This does not represent the total number of people living with chronic hepatitis C in California. Additional analysis is needed to determine how many chronic hepatitis C cases are currently living.

Source: California Department of Public Health, STD Control Branch

[RoosterRedux]

For any one interested, here's a link to the pdf source of the info I just presented on hep C in CA...http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Documents/ChronicHepBandHepCinCalifornia,2011.final.pdf