The customary effect of government interference: the kiss of death for free enterprise and beneficial innovation.
Price fixing. A communists dream.
The issue here is not price, innovation or availability.
The issue is a government with the power to destroy an entire market sector of an advanced economy.
The US is 6% of the world’s population and about 14% of the world’s economy.
What our national government pays for drugs really isn’t all that important in terms of repaying drug development.
The drug companies need to take their talking points to Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and most importantly, Beijing.
China may be as much as 35% of the world’s economy by the time a newly drug project bears commercial fruit.
This is from my PPACA modification proposal of late 2017, which I wish to maintain my copyrights to in general, but the following may be freely copied:
[This is drug coverage stuff.
[These are not price controls. A plan is not prevented from paying $1 million for a single aspirin by this subsection.
[These levels merely indicate the price levels at which a drug company (or a patient’s doctor) has to ask the plan
[ for permission to dip into the plan’s bank account (and enrollees’ wallets and purses).
(6) BASIC PRICE LEVEL.-A basic price level plan must contractually cover, as medically indicated and prescribed,
as per generally reasonable plan formulary, prior authorization and step therapy rules,
with rights of appeal as provided by applicable law and the plan,
prescription drug products authorized for US patient use under US federal law
by the US Food and Drug Administration prior to the year prior to the calendar year of the plan,
up to 120% of their equivalent Canadian maximum price at a $1CDN=$1US conversion rate,
if such a price has been officially proclaimed by the Canadian Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, or
the upper limit, based solely on the most essential drug molecular type of the product, for the following molecular types:
(A) GENERIC CHEMICAL.-,
(I) $20, 30-day supply,
(II) $50, 90-day/course supply,
(B) PATENTED CHEMICAL.-,
(I) FDA-designated breakthrough or orphan drug-,
(ii) use normally less than 91 days, $50/day of supply,
(ii) use normally less than one year and greater than 90 days, $20/day of supply,
(iii) use normally at least one year, $300/30-day supply,
(II) not an FDA-designated breakthrough or orphan drug-,
(aa) other in chemical class or USP classification,
(i) $40/30-day supply,
(ii) $100 90-day/course supply,
(bb) no other in USP classification or chemical class,
(i) $100/30-day supply,
(ii) $250 90-day/course supply,
(C) LARGE VOLUME RECOMBINANT.-,
(I) normally one occasion use for any patient[clot-buster], $2,500/occasion,
(II) possible substitute for patient’s ICD-9 condition, $20/treatment activity day, up to 365,
(III) no possible substitute for patient’s ICD-9 condition, $40/treatment activity day, up to 365,
(D) SMALL VOLUME RECOMBINANT.-,
(I) patient specific recombinant molecule, $100/treatment activity day, up to 365.
(II) no possible substitute for patient’s ICD-9 condition, $80/treatment activity day, up to 365,
(III) possible substitute for patient’s ICD-9 condition, $60/treatment activity day, up to 365,
(IV) normally one occasion use for any patient[anti-venom], $5,000/occasion.
Well, Mister President, VETO the damn thing when it hits your desk.
$100/year/patient - uh!
$1,000/year/patient - uhh!
$10,000/year/patient - UHH!
$100,000/year/patient - Not affordable for the national government!
$1,000,000/year/patient - This will not be tolerated by the national government!
I’m 61 years of age. I have never taken a drug that is currently under federal exclusivity.
What I care most about is affordable access to medical care and products that are now decades old.
I may not sign up for Medicare Part B or Part D.
I believe the government needs to get Part B and Part D prices under control.
Companies will not sell products they cannot make money from.
Government price setting is death to the U.S. If you want to look into li.iting patents to a few years , yes. ut price fixing is socialism. the drug companies will find another business or move overseas.
I am far from Anarchist but I absolutely HATE government. A limited government of good governance is history.
More tyranny of government.
With Mark Levin, I’m highly skeptical of government price controls on drugs. On the other hand, as the largest paying customer for drugs (via Medicare and the VA), the government should bargain with pharma to keep costs down for the end consumer. And if Medicare decides that it’s not willing to pay $1M/day to keep someone alive, I’m good with that. That someone still has the “right” (if not likely the ability) to pay it themselves.