Re:Mylan overcharged Medicaid for EpiPen for years, despite ...
by FireBeyond on Friday October 07, 2016 @05:05PM
(#12663899)
This is what Shkreli has counted on you believing. The cost is NOT $20. The co-pay is. The amount paid by your insurer is well into the four digits.
Your insurer isn't an endowment, it isn't a charity. Notwithstanding a few percent ROI on investing premiums, the only person paying these four digits is you. Or your employer. It's just amortized and spread among a group.
"It's not that bad, it's really only $20" is the big trick here. A much higher amount is being billed, and paid, even after negotiation. It's not coming from a magic money fairy.
They are talking about impoverished women with AIDS in Africa - and the drug company only has a license for the US, the drug itself has nothing to do with AIDS, and is free for half the patients and a $20 co-pay for the other half.