Should Medicare have the right to negotiate lower drug prices?

[msc545]

Lowering drug prices by giving Medicare the power to negotiate is incredibly popular with voters across the political spectrum. Ninety percent of voters support Medicare negotiation, including 88% of Republican voters. Unfortunately, that bipartisan support doesn’t extend to the halls of Congress. Every single Republican in the House and Senate voted with Big Pharma and against lower drug prices recently.

[jshm2]

The problem is two fold, the quality and the practices are not right.

95% of the time, the generic drug is exactly the same as the more expensive brand. By only allowing certain brands, the government is doing a disservice to the patient and gouging them.

As for practices, it's well known that the USA is the only developed country which doesn't have a healthcare system, it has healthcare businesses. Like any businesses, it doesn't give a shit about customers, only profits. This means a lot of the quality of care is profit driven and people don't know any better, and some are even at risk.

[msc545]

Medicare pays for generic drugs.

[DryGermanGuy]

„Should“? They already have that right, they are the fucking government. And in most developed countries the government actually works for the people. That’s why an asthma inhaler cost ~45 bucks in Europe and ~200+ in the United States! Well done! 🤦‍♂️

[Daniela1982]

Good RX does that for you. Besides, you can't get Medicare until you turn 65 so it doesn't do a lot of people any good anyway.

[msc545]

GoodRx does that with some drugs for some conditions. It is mostly useless for seriously expensive drugs. There are millions of people over 65 on Medicare, so it does a lot of good to allow Medicare to negotiate prices.

[Daniela1982]

But it does younger people no good, like me.

[msc545]

It does not, but insurance companies already can negotiate drug prices, and they do.

[Stacey55666]

Yes, it should. See, I know you hate my guts, but I agree with you on this.

[msc545]

I don't hate you - I just hate your shitty politics.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, it should be medications free for all.

[Astarlessnightsky]

Sure. Especially when you consider the prices for most drugs are 10x-100x higher in the US compared to the rest of the world.

[gorydetails]

Rather than price controls, let consumers buy medicines from any country and ban advertising by big pharma.

And let’s settle down on Republicans and big pharma. Dems have been pharmas bitch boys for three years.

[msc545]

You can get meds with a prescription from other countries at better prices, but not the really expensive ones usually. For instance, GLP-1 agonists for diabetes are highly effective but cost the same or more.

[gorydetails]

Right. So we should be able to here also.