Even More Obamacare Follies

[Carl Pickens]

If you really want to eliminate the high cost of pharmaceuticals, increase demand by eliminating prescriptions.

They could also allow people to start manufacturing pharmaceuticals in their basements and high school chemistry labs.

 

[joevol33]

They could also allow people to start manufacturing pharmaceuticals in their basements and high school chemistry labs.

They do this in Kentucky.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Obscene pharmaceutical company profits and executive pay are the reason drugs cost so much today.

Define "obscene profits".

 

[FLVOL69]

Define "obscene profits".

$$$$$$$$$

 

[Biopsyman]

Unless you live in Canada or India.

They are not known for drug development

 

[Gramps]

They are not known for drug development

Our government funds a large part of pharmaceutical R&D with taxpayer funds.
why should Americans fund these companies then have to pay a larger price for the same drugs than foreign countries. Appears to me pharmaceutical companies are shafting the US taxpayer.

 

[TNsnyper20]

Nothing..... Elementary kids love them

I see nothing wrong with reliving some of my childhood through my son. Now if you would please excuse me.... It's morphing time.

 

[Biopsyman]

Our government funds a large part of pharmaceutical R&D with taxpayer funds.
why should Americans fund these companies then have to pay a larger price for the same drugs than foreign countries. Appears to me pharmaceutical companies are shafting the US taxpayer.

U til you need one of their lifesaving meds and then Everyone is thankful.. What about the compounds that do not m come to market while billions are spent? Hard to put a price on iimprovement or the extension of life

 

[Gramps]

U til you need one of their lifesaving meds and then Everyone is thankful.. What about the compounds that do not m come to market while billions are spent? Hard to put a price on iimprovement or the extension of life

Why should I pay 2-5 times more for that new life saving drug than a patient that has the same disease as I have that lives in another nation?

You do not see a problem that the foreign patient is getting that drug that is being made in the USA for a fraction of the cost a US Citizen is being forced to pay.

 

[Biopsyman]

Why should I pay 2-5 times more for that new life saving drug than a patient that has the same disease as I have that lives in another nation?

You do not see a problem that the foreign patient is getting that drug that is being made in the USA for a fraction of the cost a US Citizen is being forced to pay.

Prices are set by the market

 

[Obsessed]

Why should I pay 2-5 times more for that new life saving drug than a patient that has the same disease as I have that lives in another nation?

You do not see a problem that the foreign patient is getting that drug that is being made in the USA for a fraction of the cost a US Citizen is being forced to pay.

I'm asking because I don't know, are those other countries regulated like ours is? Maybe the pharmaceutical companies can sell cheaper to them because of "the cost of doing business"?

 

[Gramps]

Prices are set by the market

That is BS and you know it.
it is a little long but worth reading.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/835182

The US makes most of the discoveries, the taxpayer funds 85% of the basic research, and yet at the end of the day when a drug is FDA-approved — for cancer as well as for other indications — we as Americans are paying at least twice the price as those outside the US," said Dr Kantarjian. "In the setting of most cancer drugs, you can find them at half the price in Canada. For the hepatitis C drug [sofosbuvir], in the United States we pay $80,000 to $160,000 for a 3- to 6-month course, but in Egypt and India, the drug company has an agreement to give the total course of treatment to an individual patient for $900."

Even at that cut rate, they still make a large profit, he emphasized. "That's because the total cost of treatment is only $138. In the US, we are in a very awkward situation because we fund most of the research as taxpayers and we get zero in return," he explained.

"In fact," he said, "it is double jeopardy because we pay more than anyone outside the United States.

 

[Gramps]

I'm asking because I don't know, are those other countries regulated like ours is? Maybe the pharmaceutical companies can sell cheaper to them because of "the cost of doing business"?

Read the Medscape article I just posted. It is a pretty good read.

 

[DC_Vol]

That is BS and you know it.
it is a little long but worth reading.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/835182

Gramps, I'm not going to argue that there are some inequities in the pharmaceutical business. And I also didn't read the article you posted.

But the information you provided is not the complete story. For example, Sofosbuvir is being sold in India through a partnership with a generic drug manufacturer because they were denied patent protection there. It's not because they just price it different.

Second, the material input costs to a drug is not a fair measuring stick of cost to bring to market.

Third, Having looked at Gilead's finances I am confident the bulk of their R&D is not being funded by Uncle Sam.

One other thing worthy to note - and I recognize this isn't pertinent to your specific argument - Sofosbuvir is a cure for hep c and is a complete game changer. The price for treatment with Sofosbuvir far outweighs the costs to manage the disease over its lifetime.

As I said, there are fair criticisms to level at the pharm business but after reading the cliff notes you provided I don't see how this particular piece is worthy of the time.

 

[Obsessed]

Mobile Site Preview


GOING JUST FINE: It was the first year in which purchasing health insurance was made mandatory under the ACA, with penalties of $95 or 1 percent of total income. The average penalty collected for the 2014 tax year was about $200, the IRS reported.

By Eric Boehm | Watchdog.org

The IRS fined more than 7.5 million Americans who didn’t have health insurance in 2014, even as Obamacare subsidies flowed to people who didn’t even exist.

The Treasury Department reported last week the number of Americans who faced fines because of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was significantly higher than the Obama administration expected. For 2014, the IRS projected that roughly 6 million would face fines, but the final total was 1.5 million higher.

It was the first year in which buying health insurance was made mandatory under the ACA, with penalties of $95 or 1 percent of total income – whichever was higher – for people who did not comply.

The average penalty collected for the 2014 tax year was about $200, the IRS reported.

“Although we have not yet completed our post-filing analysis, we are committed to conducting additional outreach to taxpayers, including letters to these specific taxpayers who did not have to report or make a payment. These letters will inform them about available exemptions and note that they may benefit from amending their return,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

Penalties will increase to $395 or 2 percent of income per person in 2015; that will jump to $695 or 2.5 percent of income in 2016.

Those penalties are supposed to force Americans to purchase health insurance — or to at least make it financially wise for them to do so.

To make it easier to buy health insurance, the ACA has a system of subsidies tied to the federal tax code. The IRS is responsible for handing out insurance subsidies to people who use the federal exchange — and will get to continue doing so after last month’s high-profile Supreme Court ruling — while other individuals’ subsidies flow through the state-level exchanges.

But an investigation by the Government Accountability Office recently revealed that fake applicants who enrolled in health insurance programs through the federal exchange were receiving subsidies. Those phony applicants had initially enrolled during 2014, but they were automatically re-enrolled and continued to benefit from tax subsidies in 2015, the GAO said.

The GAO was successful in 11 of 12 attempts to register fictitious people with the federal health insurance exchange. In seven of those cases, the fake applications were missing vital pieces of information, which should have raised red flags during the approval process.

 

[joevol33]

Mobile Site Preview


GOING JUST FINE: It was the first year in which purchasing health insurance was made mandatory under the ACA, with penalties of $95 or 1 percent of total income. The average penalty collected for the 2014 tax year was about $200, the IRS reported.

By Eric Boehm | Watchdog.org

The IRS fined more than 7.5 million Americans who didn’t have health insurance in 2014, even as Obamacare subsidies flowed to people who didn’t even exist.

The Treasury Department reported last week the number of Americans who faced fines because of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was significantly higher than the Obama administration expected. For 2014, the IRS projected that roughly 6 million would face fines, but the final total was 1.5 million higher.

It was the first year in which buying health insurance was made mandatory under the ACA, with penalties of $95 or 1 percent of total income – whichever was higher – for people who did not comply.

The average penalty collected for the 2014 tax year was about $200, the IRS reported.

“Although we have not yet completed our post-filing analysis, we are committed to conducting additional outreach to taxpayers, including letters to these specific taxpayers who did not have to report or make a payment. These letters will inform them about available exemptions and note that they may benefit from amending their return,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

Penalties will increase to $395 or 2 percent of income per person in 2015; that will jump to $695 or 2.5 percent of income in 2016.

Those penalties are supposed to force Americans to purchase health insurance — or to at least make it financially wise for them to do so.

To make it easier to buy health insurance, the ACA has a system of subsidies tied to the federal tax code. The IRS is responsible for handing out insurance subsidies to people who use the federal exchange — and will get to continue doing so after last month’s high-profile Supreme Court ruling — while other individuals’ subsidies flow through the state-level exchanges.

But an investigation by the Government Accountability Office recently revealed that fake applicants who enrolled in health insurance programs through the federal exchange were receiving subsidies. Those phony applicants had initially enrolled during 2014, but they were automatically re-enrolled and continued to benefit from tax subsidies in 2015, the GAO said.

The GAO was successful in 11 of 12 attempts to register fictitious people with the federal health insurance exchange. In seven of those cases, the fake applications were missing vital pieces of information, which should have raised red flags during the approval process.

The whole obamacare thing is a joke.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Our government funds a large part of pharmaceutical R&D with taxpayer funds.
why should Americans fund these companies then have to pay a larger price for the same drugs than foreign countries. Appears to me pharmaceutical companies are shafting the US taxpayer.

That was exactly my point Gramps. You can go to either country and pay less for the same drugs that were researched and developed right here in THIS country. Why is that?

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Prices are set by the market

Not in this case they aren't.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

The whole obamacare thing is a joke.

No, jokes are usually funny. And there is a punch line. The one being fooled is not literally punched as in this thing.

 

[joevol33]

No, jokes are usually funny. And there is a punch line. The one being fooled is not literally punched as in this thing.

True.

 

[MG1968]

That was exactly my point Gramps. You can go to either country and pay less for the same drugs that were researched and developed right here in THIS country. Why is that?

US patent law and the fear of product liability lawsuits

 

[Carl Pickens]

US patent law and the fear of product liability lawsuits

I never contemplated that, but I'd say that's probably THE main reason

 

[508mikey]

Tax filing errors could jeopardize Obamacare aid for 1.8M and there it is

 

[lawgator1]

So I went in to local medical facility to have (hopefully) minor diagnostic scan per doc' orders and I'm in the large waiting area. The paperwork they have you do takes roughly all of 2 minutes. Not exaggerating.

NONE of it is insurance related -- they do that themselves. Its stuff like allergies and meds.

Late 40s fellow, looks like probably a contractor, comes in to the front desk, apologizing for having missed his first appointment as he just forgot. Who forgets that?

Anyway, they give him the same batch of paperwork. He spends 30 seconds on it, brings it back, and complains they don't need it, and they say, no, we need that from everybody, and the tool walks back to his chair, muttering loudly, that he has to fill it out because of Obamacare.

That kind of ignorance is disgraceful, and his comments were a direct effort to incite reaction from others based on politics. And of course the moron was so wrong its hard to even describe how wrong he was.

I wanted to punch him right in the ovaries.

 

[Biopsyman]

So I went in to local medical facility to have (hopefully) minor diagnostic scan per doc' orders and I'm in the large waiting area. The paperwork they have you do takes roughly all of 2 minutes. Not exaggerating.

NONE of it is insurance related -- they do that themselves. Its stuff like allergies and meds.

Late 40s fellow, looks like probably a contractor, comes in to the front desk, apologizing for having missed his first appointment as he just forgot. Who forgets that?

Anyway, they give him the same batch of paperwork. He spends 30 seconds on it, brings it back, and complains they don't need it, and they say, no, we need that from everybody, and the tool walks back to his chair, muttering loudly, that he has to fill it out because of Obamacare.

That kind of ignorance is disgraceful, and his comments were a direct effort to incite reaction from others based on politics. And of course the moron was so wrong its hard to even describe how wrong he was.

I wanted to punch him right in the ovaries.

Just wait til the long lines start and denied care increases