What do you think about with current News and Opinions?

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Something to understand what nurses think about re the Current News and their opinions!

Specializes in Hospice.
35 minutes ago, Beerman said:

There are many reasons insulin is very expensive.  Simply putting a cap on how much one has to spend on it doesn't solve that problem.  It only spreads out the costs to the rest of us. It's a lazy "fix" by our elected leaders.

How about they actually work on a solution rather than sticking it into unrelated legislation?

Maybe we need to motivate the private sector to solve the problem they created? On their own dime, not mine. 

I suspect that private sector price gouging either causes or contributes to increased morbidity and mortality, increased treatment costs to be defrayed by taxpayers (Medicare/Medicaid) and insurers.

Government regulation is a lousy way to solve a problem. Unfortunately, we live in a culture where doing the right thing is for chumps.

Sometimes, it’s the only leverage we have. It’s not like diabetics can refuse to buy insulin. Why do you suppose the pharm industry fought so hard to outlaw buying meds outside the US?

We’re a captive market.

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20 minutes ago, heron said:

Maybe we need to motivate the private sector to solve the problem they created? On their own dime, not mine. 

I suspect that private sector price gouging either causes or contributes to increased morbidity and mortality, increased treatment costs to be defrayed by taxpayers (Medicare/Medicaid) and insurers.

Government regulation is a lousy way to solve a problem. Unfortunately, we live in a culture where doing the right thing is for chumps.

Sometimes, it’s the only leverage we have. It’s not like diabetics can refuse to buy insulin. Why do you suppose the pharm industry fought so hard to outlaw buying meds outside the US?

We’re a captive market.

You'll get no argument from me on any of the above.

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
2 hours ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Instead, Republicans want to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices on behalf of we the people, right? Most Americans want that. In fact, no they don't want to allow that negotiation... the republican Crapo proposal simply puts a cap on Medicare drug costs... what you consider a lazy fix. 

https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/public-weighs-in-on-medicare-drug-negotiations/

It might be an idea to try to work with Republicans to fix our health care and prescription drug problems but so far, Republicans don't seem interested and haven't really forwarded any reasonable ideas for these problems since Trump promised health reforms before the last election. Republicans have walked back some of those Trumpian health care reform remarks. 

 

Insulin is the standard bearer in this argument, IMHO.  It costs $2 t0 $6 a bottle to manufacture so it seems that $35 more than fair for the drug companies.  This article elaborates on the causes of price increases and most of them are due to a lack of competition because there is a law in favor of the drug companies to keep it that way:

 

 

 

2 hours ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Instead, Republicans want to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices on behalf of we the people, right? Most Americans want that. In fact, no they don't want to allow that negotiation... the republican Crapo proposal simply puts a cap on Medicare drug costs... what you consider a lazy fix. 

https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/public-weighs-in-on-medicare-drug-negotiations/

It might be an idea to try to work with Republicans to fix our health care and prescription drug problems but so far, Republicans don't seem interested and haven't really forwarded any reasonable ideas for these problems since Trump promised health reforms before the last election. Republicans have walked back some of those Trumpian health care reform remarks. 

 

I have read that 1 bottle of insulin costs from $2 to $6 to manufacture so $35 seems more than generous to the drug companies.  90% of the market is controlled by only 3 drug companies and no generics are permitted.  There's a whole bunch of reasons why this particular drug is so expensive, but none of these reasons are weighted in favor of the consumer.

 

 

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Specializes in Critical Care.
4 hours ago, Beerman said:

There are many reasons insulin is very expensive.  Simply putting a cap on how much one has to spend on it doesn't solve that problem.  It only spreads out the costs to the rest of us. It's a lazy "fix" by our elected leaders.

How about they actually work on a solution rather than sticking it into unrelated legislation?

It's actually pretty inexpensive to produce insulin.  Big vats full of either yeast or bacteria literally *** it out in large quantities, just needing fairly basic nutrients.

There have been some specific types of bacteria used where the culture media was somewhat expensive, resulting in as much $6 or more in manufacturing cost per 1000 unit vial, which have since been replaced with cheaper to maintain bacteria, which is why an insulin vial today typically costs between $2 and $4 a vial to produce.

This is where conservatives either misunderstand or are oblivious to what a "free-market" is, despite claiming to be the champions of free market economics.

In a truly free-market, all the participants in that market are able to exert their force on the market; manufacturers want a good profit, consumers want a fair price.  As consumers, the really only effective way to exert influence within the free market is as a group through some form of collective representation, also called a government.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

WHAT are those 'many reasons' insulin is very expensive?

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
3 hours ago, No Stars In My Eyes said:

WHAT are those 'many reasons' insulin is very expensive?

8 Reasons Why Insulin is so Outrageously Expensive - T1International

I am unable to attach the above link but if you Google what I entered above, you will get what I found to be the most comprehensive list of reasons.  I never said these were GOOD reasons.  As I said before, the odds of getting a good price are against the consumer.

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4 hours ago, No Stars In My Eyes said:

WHAT are those 'many reasons' insulin is very expensive?

Here is a good article.

https://apnews.com/article/health-prices-diabetes-congress-a2f9986b7bf3500b81d1ec80a01e5abb

And, from that, a section that backs up the point I made earlier:

"A bipartisan bill proposed earlier this year that would cap insulin prices could cost about $23 billion over the next decade, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. While the bill would reduce insulin costs for many consumers, it would drive up government costs and premiums charged by Medicare and private insurers, according to the office’s analysis.

And that’s one of the reasons why price caps can be controversial.

“If your health insurance company says, voluntarily, nobody who buys insulin in our plan will have to pay more than $25, the question is who is paying the balance of that?” Luo said. “That then means their cost will go up, which means they’ll raise premiums on everyone.”"

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
16 minutes ago, Beerman said:

Here is a good article.

https://apnews.com/article/health-prices-diabetes-congress-a2f9986b7bf3500b81d1ec80a01e5abb

And, from that, a section that backs up the point I made earlier:

"A bipartisan bill proposed earlier this year that would cap insulin prices could cost about $23 billion over the next decade, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. While the bill would reduce insulin costs for many consumers, it would drive up government costs and premiums charged by Medicare and private insurers, according to the office’s analysis.

And that’s one of the reasons why price caps can be controversial.

“If your health insurance company says, voluntarily, nobody who buys insulin in our plan will have to pay more than $25, the question is who is paying the balance of that?” Luo said. “That then means their cost will go up, which means they’ll raise premiums on everyone.”"

Yep... we need to socialize the cost of insulin if we can't control the price in other ways. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/rising-insulin-prices-track-competitors-closely-2016-9

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Even if it seems odd that prices would rise like this in a competitive market, it highlights the hold that drug brands have over doctors who prescribe medicines, and the patients who pay for them.

Bloomberg's Robert Langreth explored the issue last year and spoke to a pharmacist and economist who said that it is proof that branded prescription drugs “are basically not a competitive market,” when it comes to prices. This isn't unique to insulin: When there was a viable competitor for EpiPen something similar happened, as with multiple-sclerosis drugs.

Quote

As for why the price has gone up so much, regardless of the similarities? The companies offer a number of explanations — including that rebates and other offsets mean that the income to the company is actually declining, and or that they're spending billions to produce and package insulin — making improvements in how the drug is delivered and produced.

Fancy bookkeeping?

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Specializes in Critical Care.
1 hour ago, Beerman said:

Here is a good article.

https://apnews.com/article/health-prices-diabetes-congress-a2f9986b7bf3500b81d1ec80a01e5abb

And, from that, a section that backs up the point I made earlier:

"A bipartisan bill proposed earlier this year that would cap insulin prices could cost about $23 billion over the next decade, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. While the bill would reduce insulin costs for many consumers, it would drive up government costs and premiums charged by Medicare and private insurers, according to the office’s analysis.

And that’s one of the reasons why price caps can be controversial.

“If your health insurance company says, voluntarily, nobody who buys insulin in our plan will have to pay more than $25, the question is who is paying the balance of that?” Luo said. “That then means their cost will go up, which means they’ll raise premiums on everyone.”"

You've hit the nail on the head when it comes to why "conservatives" should be prohibited from having any role in this process.

What the article points out is that without any sort of regulatory price controls, shifting the costs to government programs would increase the cost to government programs.  No ***ing *** sherlock.

The alternative is to do what every modernized economy has done since the beginning of time, which is to say, this is what we're willing to pay.  If you don't like that offer, feel free to bow out of the market and we'll get our product from the remaining vendors who agree to pay that price, if there's nobody left willing to offer a product for that price, then that's on us.

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10 hours ago, Beerman said:

Here is a good article.

https://apnews.com/article/health-prices-diabetes-congress-a2f9986b7bf3500b81d1ec80a01e5abb

And, from that, a section that backs up the point I made earlier:

"A bipartisan bill proposed earlier this year that would cap insulin prices could cost about $23 billion over the next decade, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. While the bill would reduce insulin costs for many consumers, it would drive up government costs and premiums charged by Medicare and private insurers, according to the office’s analysis.

And that’s one of the reasons why price caps can be controversial.

“If your health insurance company says, voluntarily, nobody who buys insulin in our plan will have to pay more than $25, the question is who is paying the balance of that?” Luo said. “That then means their cost will go up, which means they’ll raise premiums on everyone.”"

Just pointing out that the above isn't from me.  But from the CBO, and then a quote from Dr Jing Luo.  Who, may or may not be a conservative (I would bet not), but here is a bio:

"Jing Luo, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and board-certified general internist. Before coming to Pitt, he was a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School and a physician and researcher at the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, located within the Department of Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He trained in primary care internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

His research focuses on prescription drug use, pricing, and policy, especially for medicines treating chronic diseases such as diabetes. His work on insulin has been featured in The Lancet, JAMA, the NYTimes, and the Washington Post."

https://theconversation.com/profiles/jing-luo-1341111

 

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.

And we need to regulate it or manufacture it ASAP because diabetes is one disease that is skyrocketing in incidence.

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