RR,
You did NOT read the article.
RG
On 10/3/2016 5:59 PM, Ron Ristad wrote:
While I agree that Americans are being gouged, not just by pharmaceutical companies but by the entire healthcare system ($25 for an aspirin in the hospital), the fact is that price controls never work. Just ask the people of Venezuela who can't even get toilet paper except on the black market and must wait in line for 6 hours just to buy a bag of rice.
The socialist idea that government is an all powerful god that can make anything happen simply by issuing an edict is very naive. There are laws of economics.
The truth is that the only reason why they can charge $750 for a $3 pill is because health insurance will pay for it. It's obvious that an average worker could not afford it, and if nobody was able to buy it then the company would soon go out of business.
The final socialist solution is government healthcare. They have government healthcare here in Costa Rica which I am forced to pay into in order to maintain my residency but I have never used it, nor would I, even if I were dying. Especially if I were dying, since the waiting time for treatment can be years. It's good for poor people who have no money, many of whom would die needlessly because they wouldn't otherwise have access to basic healthcare, but it's no substitute for private healthcare. Fortunately private healthcare is not very expensive because nobody has private health insurance.
The left wing NY Times doesn't even think it's a good idea.
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/09/23/should-the-government-impose-drug-price-controls/drug-price-controls-end-up-costing-patients-their-health
-----Original Message-----
From: R George
Sent: Oct 3, 2016 5:14 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients@null, null@null
Subject: [sparkscoffee] Big Pharma money trying to defeat CA
Proposition 61
*No on 61 has outraised supporters six-to-one. As of October 2,
2016, opponents have raised $86.9 million,
while Californians for Lower Drug Prices has received $14.6
million. The top ten donors to No on 61 are all
pharmaceutical companies or companies with interests in the
pharmaceutical drug industry. Over 99 percent
of contributions to Californians for Lower Drug Prices came from
the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Polls indicate
support for Proposition 61 to be around 69.5 percent.*
-------------------------------------
Drug companies making enormous profits from people's illnesses and
misery isn't Just a moral issue. Skyrocketing prescription drug
prices are a matter of life and death. More Americans die of
hepatitis C than from all other infectious diseases — EVEN THOUGH
THERE'S A CURE, One reason? The drug company that controls it
charges more than $1,000 per pill, out of most patients' reach.
That's not the only outrageous example of drug-company price-gouging:
The price of a common infection-fighting pill was raised overnight
from $13.50 to $750 — nearly a 5000% increase,
The average annual cost of widely-used specialty drugs is
estimated at $53,000 — greater than the nation's median household
income ($52,000) and almost 3 1/2 times larger than average annual
Social Security benefits of $15,000.
One cancer drug costs $300,000 a year.
The drug companies put profits over people, returns for
stockholders over cures for patients. What good are miraculous,
life-saving medications, if they're priced so high patients can't
afford them — and thousands are dying as a result?
Proposition 61, The California Drug Price Relief Act, fights back
against the drug companies' price-gouging. And it is expected to
save lives. *Here's how it would work: The Act would require the
State of California to negotiate with drug companies for prices
that are no more than the amounts paid for the same drugs by the
U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (DVA).*
*Why the Dept. of Veterans Affairs? Because unlike Medicare, the
DVA negotiates for drug prices, and pays on average 20-24% less
for medications than other government agencies, up to 40% less
than Medicare Part D. The Drug Price Relief Act empowers the State
of California, as the healthcare buyer for millions of
Californians, to negotiate the same or even better deals for
taxpayers, which could save billions in healthcare costs.*
*Drug companies are planning to spend $100 million to fight this
measure because they know It would cause downward pressure on ALL
drug prices — and cut into their excessive profits.*
Don't just take our word for it, a publication for drug executives
called Prop. 61 "GROUND ZERO" in the national fight for lower drug
prices, warning:
"If the voters of California approve this proposition ... [it]
would no doubt cause an immediate demand for the same VA discount
rate to be made available to other states, the federal government,
and likely private [health plan] entities, as well. IN SHORT [IT]
WOULD BE A PRICING DISASTER FOR THE ENTIRE U.S. DRUG INDUSTRY."
But a "pricing disaster" for drug companies would equal price
relief for hard-pressed consumers.
Prop. 61 is strongly supported by the 86,000-member California
Nurses Association the largest healthcare-provider organization in
the state; AARP, the largest retirees' group in California, with
33 million members; the Urban League; the Campaign for a Healthy
California, including many labor unions; Progressive Democrats of
America; Sen. Bernie Sanders; former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert
Reich; and many others.
JOIN US IN FIGHTING AGAINST HIGH DRUG PRICES AND DRUG COMPANY
GREED. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 61. For more information, go to
www.StopPharmaGreed.com.
