The gooberment wants to pay them too much right?
I thought so.
Well, that’s what Socialists do...
Guess the schmoize lobby didnt work out this time.
They keep sending millions to Democrats campaigns.
Merck is free not to sell to them if they don’t like their offer.
Trump’s argument was the companies were setting the prices themselves through negotiations abroad and they could just charge everyone else a bit more and find a fairer price for the United States rather than gouging us as a “get healthy” market.
Big Pharma complained they would have to stop innovating on drugs if the US didn’t continue to pay a premium.
The payoff was in the Obamacare deal-
No Negotiation on Drug Prices got all the Pharma Mafia on board - they flooded DC with money and Agency Capture.
“substantially reduce drug prices”
and at the same time, the rate of government spending never goes down.
Ha! Right.....this is nothing but ANOTHER PAY OFF avenue....from XiDen to BigPharma.
Don’t be distracted by the “MediScare” tactic.
In France an entity offers up a recommended price for a drug.
If the drug company accepts the pricing offer, French insurers must pay for the drug.
If the drug company refuses the pricing offer, French insurers need not pay for the drug, but the drug company is free to sell it to needy French at prices these needy French are willing to pay out of their own pocket.
The original LBJ Medicare did not pay for drugs at all.
“Average annual cost-sharing liability exceeded $10,000 for more than 1 in 10 Part B drugs in this analysis (13% or 36 drugs). While some of the highest-liability drugs were used by relatively few beneficiaries to treat rare conditions, two of these drugs were used by more than 10,000 beneficiaries in 2019: Opdivo, a treatment for several types of cancer used by 30,300 beneficiaries, with average annual cost-sharing liability of $10,200; and Darzalex, a treatment for multiple myeloma used by nearly 12,000 beneficiaries, with average annual cost-sharing liability of $12,900.”
The “$10,000...36 drugs” means they cost the patient and the federal government together over $50,000/year/patient.
How many such patients would or could pay $50,000 for a drug out of their own pocket?
The “negotiation” system that really is really a coercion system is a kluge.
Perhaps an excise tax system would be better. If the average EU selling price is $30,000/year/patient and the US price is $70,000/year/patient, a tax of $40,000 would be due.
The DC people got the idea of ‘negotiation’ from the VA system, where, because of low patient volume, the drug companies were willing to bite and not fight.
“Under the IRA, the Government will requisition Merck’s patented pharmaceutical products and transfer them to Medicare beneficiaries through forced sales”
Is there any reason to doubt that the federal government has eminent domain over intellectual property as well as real property?
The transistor and color TV patents were made subject to compulsory licensing by federal action.
Music is still subject to compulsory licensing.