Posted on 05/09/2016 7:13:29 AM PDT by SatinDoll
Oh yes it is.
"My parents were just vacationing in Europe (they go often so they're aware of how stuff works). My mom is diabetic and had a shortage of insulin while in France, they went to the drugstore and she showed the bottle of Humalog which is what she uses in the United States and the price in the United States is around $240 a bottle which is charged to her Medicare and insurance and can only be prescribed by her doctor."
"The pharmacist recognized the bottle and without having to go to a doctor sold her a bottle of insulin for US $25.00."
"This is the same brand made by Eli Lilly that she gets in the United States and why in the in the world that should be 1/10 of the price without having to go to the doctor for a prescription."
[Quoted with permission.]
Note this well folks: No prescription needed and 1/10th the price for the exact same drug.
Now fill your suitcase and bring same home with you and you'll go to prison. Note that you're not counterfeiting anything, you're not adulterating anything and you lawfully own that which you're bringing into the country for the purpose of nothing other than making a profit.
If this price-fixing, which is supposed to be a felony under 15 USC was to be stopped then the drug would cost $25/bottle -- or slightly more, since of course the person bringing it would like to make a profit -- here.
Even with a reasonable profit -- say, $5/bottle -- it would still collapse the price in the United States instantly.
Is it all drugs? No, definitely not, but the same issue applies to both procedures and supplies.
Put a stop to the racket and the cost of obtaining medical care, whether it be drug, device, service or procedure will drop like a stone. Further, no new laws are actually necessary since between 15 USC and state consumer protection laws are plenty-sufficient on their own. The entire rubric of "must buy insurance or be bankrupted by any material medical emergency" certainly fits the definition of a force-tied sale that also facially appears to be unlawful under that very same body of law.
You have been and are today being robbed with the explicit cooperation and assistance of the Federal and State governments folks. If it is not stopped now these practices will, within the next few years, consume the entirety of the Federal Budget at which point our economy and probability political system will collapse.
Try to tell them they'll have to give up the current pre-pay model and then pay $60 or $80 out of pocket, and they'll hang you.
It might work if the HSA was attached to a mandatory deduction and employer contribution like the existing insurance scheme (but hopefully, cheaper), something like AFLAC.
Otherwise, "pay more, get less" isn't going to fly. We also need to get rid of the enormous malpractice premiums healthcare workers pay-- it's simply insane.
If my profits are guaranteed, I'd sell for more overseas.
So why do they sell for less? You really have no idea?
The buyers will NOT pay more... they negotiate what they will pay and since it is NOT about the profits for the pharma boys in the socialist EU they make the best deal they can. Knowing full well 'we the people' will keep them flush in cash.
I'd sell for 80% of US price, not 10%.
So why do they sell so cheaply? It's almost like those other countries are forcing them to sell for that.
Don't you agree?
Look at Trump’s proposal to negotiate Drug Prices for Medicare and the VA. As I understand it, it is based on an average of all their distribution Markets.
When Bush and Congress invented Medicare Part D, negotiating Drug Prices was not part of the equation. Lots of Lobbyist paid Donations and Dinners I assume.
I say this as a Leukemia Survivor (so far) who LOVES Big Pharma. Without them, I wouldn’t be here today.
You tell me why our druggies go so cheap in socialist nations. It is not a question that they do, so you tell me why they willingly make these deals.
Because they force them. They say if you don't sell for 10% (or whatever number they like), they'll allow a generic company in their country to make it, and the owner of the IP will get zero.
So much for your claim that drug companies collude with the US government to rip off Americans.
Now that you've learned how it works, what do you think?
BS there is indeed collusion with ‘government’. Johnson and Johnson did not donate millions for a Jeb Bush candidacy out of charity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.