U.S. seniors bypass law, cross border to fill prescriptions

Houston Chronicle ^ | 6/8/03

[cksharks]

Just like he said socialisim at its finest.

[Fee]

The Republican rep should have supported and allowed Texans go over the border to buy lower cost perscription drugs for the following reasons. Freedom of choice of the free market and to demonstrate that Mexico with less regulations on consumer products can still provide drugs in a safe manner. That means we need to review our regulations and eliminate the ones we do not need and help lower the cost of selling drugs in the US.

[RISU]

I don't ghet it?

You mean there are some "Americans" that will not allow themselves to be ripped off, and are taking "direct action" to prevent that!

Shocking. Positively shocking!!

[FairWitness]

I don't have the figures handy, but advertising costs are in the billions , many times what is spent on R&D

Again, using same source linked in #29 (Stanford U.), advertising targeted directly to consumers, including T.V. ads, totaled $1.3 billion in 1998. Consider that the cost of developing a single new drug (for chronic use; short term usage drugs can be developed more cheaply) is rapidly approaching $1 billion, I don't think the advertising is so out of line.

[Henrietta]

"You can call it what you want, but there isn't a better health care system in the world."

Is that why many Canadians cross the border to see American doctors for things like life-saving cancer treatments and surgeries, for which they have been put on a months-long waiting list at home?

[Reelect President Dubya]

The real purpose of the controlled substance laws is to grant monopolies to pharmaceutical companies.

[MarkL]

Healthcare can be quite a hit on the pocketbook... In my case, before my company was bought out, and I became elligible for the company health care plan, I was self insured... Here's my old monthly health care bill (and I'm only 41 years old!)

Health Insurance Premium : $345.00 (This was after moving up to a $1500ded/$2500 max out of pocket rate. If I would have kept my old $500/$1000, it would have been $550.00)
Co-Payment for Medications: $118.00 (This is for medication I take daily for Crohns disease. It does not include any other "specialty meds"). FWIW, if I didn't have the insurance, my med bill would be roughly $425.00/month.

Monthly cost: $463.00/month.

My home mortgage payment is $465/month!

And my health insurance rates had gone up by at least 18% a year, for the last 8 years, even if I never used the insurance. For instance, the first two years that I had the insurance, my rates still went up by 18% and then 19%, even though I was NOT taking any meds, and didn't see the doctor, even for a check-up! The year following my back surgery, my insurance went up by 35%.

Mark

[areafiftyone]

Ouch!!! I am 42 and my company's health care plan sucks! But you have to have some kind of insurance or else you are up a creek if something ever happens!

[drdemars]

Live in Arizona and going to Tiajuana to dentist can save 60% easy and hang out at the beach some. Been doing the trip and no complaints.

[Snowyman]

Perhaps you should discard figures from 1998 and catch up.You'll find that in some years since , advertising dollars doubled or tripled from the year before . There is an article out there, that details the cost of developing a new drug in the 60-70 million range, minus the government help like tax incentives and development grants. And the cost of free drugs to patients or free drugs to the needy is recovered , either through sales and volume.

And yes , although it doesn't affect me, I think Americans are getting ripped off

http://fusa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Prescription_Drugs_Drug_Pricing

[Petruchio]

But you have to have some kind of insurance or else you are up a creek if something ever happens!

Tell me about it! I had a heart attack last year.(LINK) This happened 5 weeks before I qualified for medical insurance. (new job) Medical bills for that one week in hospital total over $125,000. Monthly perscriptions cost $470. I am thinking of ordering from Canada.

[TopQuark]

I was so disgusted!

Should you be disgusted with housing prices? The price of your car?

Should I be disgusted with how high your salary is?

What is the fair price other than that established by the market, Mr. Conservative-in-the-name-only?

[biffalobull]

Is that why many Canadians cross the border to see American doctors for things like life-saving cancer treatments and surgeries, for which they have been put on a months-long waiting list at home?

Henrietta, I can't speak for the Eastern saeboard of Canada, as I was born and raised in the West.

Seven years ago my wife was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (bone cancer). It showed up on a routine examination for Aids.

She had the Aids part of the exam because she had had a hysterectomy about 10 years ago. It was at that time that our stupid Red Cross bought all the contaminated blood from the Arkansas prisons.

MM has the same symptons as Aids. She proved positve for MM. That was on a Thursday. On Monday she was in the Cancer Clinic for a bone scan. Tues. in the hospital for a bone marrow test and started on Chemo a week later. She suffered for seven long years, spending 4 days a week in the hospital for chemo. Mercifully she passed away 2 years ago on June 19/01. If we would have had to pay for all the treatments, Oncologists and tests, She would have died 6 years ago. I really beleive the reason health care isn't in your great country, is because of the strong medical, hospital, and insurance lobby. Regards

[ETERNAL WARMING]

And what are these people and others suppose to do when no one can afford anything anymore?

The Rabid Capitalists just don't care. I have yet to meet one that wasn't totally self-centered. They literally only care about THEIR money and what legislation is doing to make sure they can maximize the bottom line. They have no concept of humanity and apparently no concept of our nation. They just refuse to open their eyes to the destabilization that is happening all across this nation.

[Henrietta]

Sorry to hear about your wife.

I've heard horror stories about the Canadian health care system, and I'm not inclined to change my views regarding socialized medicine based on your experience. I've simply heard too many horror stories to the contrary. I'm glad your wife was not one of them.

[biffalobull]

I've simply heard too many horror stories to the contrary. I'm glad your wife was not one of them.

Let's forget about the horror stories concerning the health care system in Canada.

Would it be not worth while for you to have some sort of health care, that would look after drugs, and all your medical problems, than to have nothing, as it appears to be from reading this thread.

I'm sure if your Govt. took some of the billions it spends on the military, it would go along way to paying, at least for medicine. Regards

[dogbyte12]

How many millions were spent advertising "The Purple pill". The advertisements refused to even mention the name of the drug or what it was supposed to treat. The ads just asked you to ask your doctor if you needed the new purple pill.

What kinda crap is that? Their profit margin is by far higher than any other industry. They gouge the insurance companies who then end up gouging us. The most egrecious case is Claritan. They drug company fought it being put over the counter. They did not want people to have easy access to it, and for a good reason. They could not charge as much when people directly bought it, because they wouldn't pay the outrageous mark up.

I feel some sympathy for the companies, but when you look at tax breaks, tax funded research at universities, and higher profits than any other industry there is, I say let the seniors go to the border.

We do so much "pure research" at universities, the type of thing these companies would have to pay for themselves, that we as taxpayers are entitled to not being gouged.

These companies would not be selling the drugs in Mexico at the low price they do if they were losing money on the drugs even at the discount. We pay for their advertising, their R&D, and their high profit margins. Today we can get a better deal with a little drive. Oh well.

[FITZ]

I'm glad because we got to chose between different deductibles. If you go for the really high deductible you don't end up having to pay so much --- even with a $200 deductible, I usually never reached it so I figured it would be better to pocket the premiums. You can easily build up enough savings from that to pay a high deductible.

[Sonny M]

Simple question, why don't we use the free market system? There's a million and one online pharmacy's, and some of them are scams, but most are legit and located in canada, and mexico. You could have a law that allows anyone with a prescription, (which your doctor would have to verify before you can order) to buy there medications over the internet from US gov approved pharmacy's?

Something akin to one of those online travel sites that finds the lowest price. Before you could purchase however, the doctor would have to let them know you have a valid prescription, and there would be a need for safeguards to prevent fraud.

[FITZ]

The Rabid Capitalists just don't care.

They aren't so much capitalists ---more like aristocrats. Capitalism has different forms but the successful form was when there is a strong middle class and most people are fairly comfortable and sharing in the capitalism---they're not so likely to revolt that way. Who was told "The peasants need bread...they're hungry" and she answered "Then let them eat cake"? I don't think the goal of having all the wealth in just a few hands is real capitalism.