By agreeing to cut prices by $80 billion over the next 10 years to close the Medicare Part D prescription drug doughnut hole and help pay for health care reform, the major pharmaceutical companies have admitted that they’ve been raking in way too much money.
The drug manufacturers, organized as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PHARMA), have agreed to a minimum 50 percent discount for most Medicare beneficiaries for brand-name medicines purchased in the doughnut hole gap in Part D coverage, roughly between $2,700 and $6,100 a year.
The thoroughly absurd doughnot hole came into existence because former President George W. Bush and his fellow Republicans designed Part D to benefit pharmaceutical and insurance companies more than the elderly Americans who need the coverage. At the same time, the federal government was barred from negotiating drug prices in bulk with the pharmaceutical companies.
The $80 billion commitment, part of $2 trillion in health care cost cuts sought by President Barack Obama over the next 10 years as part of the health care reform effort, shows how excessively profitable the pharmaceutical industry has become. We should also be aware that in Canada, where the government negotiates drug prices as part of Single Payer, American made medicines are considerably cheaper.
Meanwhile, the 30 percent overhead for private health insurance stands as the biggest area for cost cutting. Eliminating these middle men through Single Payer or Obama's public health insurance option is the best way to achieve universal coverage at the least cost. Every other industrialized country has already shown the way.
Comments
AMERICA’S NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY!
It’s official. America and the World are now in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. A World EPIDEMIC with potential catastrophic consequences for ALL of the American people. The first PANDEMIC in 41 years. And WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES will have to face this PANDEMIC with the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed World.
STAND READY AMERICA TO SEIZE CONTROL OF YOUR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
We spend over twice as much of our GDP on healthcare as any other country in the World. And Individual American spend about ten times as much out of pocket on healthcare as any other people in the World. All because of GREED! And the PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare system in America.
And while all this is going on, some members of congress seem mostly concern about how to protect the corporate PROFITS! of our GREED DRIVEN, PRIVATE FOR PROFIT NATIONAL DISGRACE. A PRIVATE FOR PROFIT DISGRACE that is in fact, totally valueless to the public healt
37th worst healthcare in the world??? What comic book did you get that from? If the healthcare system here is sooo bad, then why do people from other countries constantly come here to get our rotten healthcare. You facists amaze me with your "the government will save us all blabberings". WHAT HAS THE GOVERNMENT EVER RUN CORRECTLY? Social security? Welfare? Give the working class all a break will ya and go back to your government subsidised housing and wait for your check and food stamps and stop telling all of us how you are getting screwed. We have the best healthcare system in the world!! But guess what, it comes at a cost. No one in this country and I repeat NO ONE is denied healthcare. The best heathcare in this country is to not have any! Then it is free. Sure the rest of us that work and pay for our healthcare pay higher fees because of this but we recieve better than anywhere else in the world. If you dont believe it then ask some of the other facist countries about theirs.
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