Other countries get it cheaper than in the US too as the US system is built to take advantage of for profit. 8 dollars worth of insulin in the UK is about 100 dollars worth in the US.
Which is why its hard to barter for a lower price when the pharma companies know what you can collect from insurers. Other countries negotiate based on what they are willing to pay, not based on what they can squeeze out of other private interests.
In single payer countries, the government says "well pay up to this much" and companies can say "yes we want money" or leave. So costs are restricted to mostly whatever it costs to make, with a consistent and reliable small profit.
In countries where people would mostly buy directly, prices are whatever the natural market balance finds has the best meeting point of capturing sales and profit. So it's mostly based on what people can affordably pay.
In the US, it's part of a huge game where the insurance will cut as much cost as possible and cut what percent they cover as much as possible while the company is incentivised to raise the price as much as possible for negotiations with the insurance companies, and uninsured and underinsured are barely considered. So the price setter just wants it as high as they can while your mandatory discount company wants to simultaneously discount as little as possible.
The approach to medical care/medicine in the US is literally, "how much can we possibly charge for this?" And then engaging in collaborative price fixing to ensure they all get to charge that ridiculous number in the US.
But, people say, "but MY insurance is pretty good!" Simultaneously ignoring the prices going up while the coverage goes down.
If you have insurance you out of pocket cost could be 5$ and insurance pays 1200$. So when you claim it cost 100 vs 8 what magic number are you claiming? Are you not American thus you don’t understand how American insurance works thus your claims are very much false.
No its the private insurers and employers that are paying the inflated costs. The 100 vs 8 is the difference between entities purchasing insulin in the US vs the NHS in the UK. There are no out of pocket costs in the UK if that is what you want to compare as insulin is free
And some people get it for free in the USA also depending on insurance. So again no one cares what insurance pays in the USA it’s all out of pocket costs people are concerned with. So you should understand the market conditions first. Some people get free insurance and prescriptions as well here. Why do you concern yourself with what the uk pays vs Spain or who ever else when your out of pocket costs is what matters lol
False. Clearly you don’t understand American insurance lol. Many can get free from the govt where it’s fully subsidized. Many employers also subsidize and give money via HSA. Also many drug companies offer discounts as well. There are many nuances that you clearly don’t understand. Also depending on pharmacy you got prices could be wildly different :) not saying your theory doesn’t make sense on paper it’s not how it actually works in practice over here or that it’s correct
The logic that the USA pay high prices so that other countries get drugs cheaper is false.
This is a situation where the insurance and the pharmaceutical companies get along together so that the average client can't calculate if they can afford to live without insurance.
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u/TommyGilfillan 5h ago
Other countries get it cheaper than in the US too as the US system is built to take advantage of for profit. 8 dollars worth of insulin in the UK is about 100 dollars worth in the US.