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A comment on Economic Analysis of Medicare for All. Parent comment

Re:Economic Analysis of Medicare for All by enraged_camel on Wednesday December 05, 2018 @07:51PM (#18614366)
No, this is a myth. We know this because the same drugs often times cost a fraction of the price in other countries.

The real reason drug prices are astronomical in the US is because the US government is legally prohibited from negotiating drug prices. So the pharmaceutical companies can literally set any price they want.

You don’t have this problem with certain government agencies that are exempt from this prohibition. For example the VA can often acquire the drugs for much cheaper.

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Re:Economic Analysis of Medicare for All by ekianjo on Wednesday December 05, 2018 @09:18PM (#18614823)
Does not matter how much it costs in other countries. the reality is that pharma companies make their revenues in the US at the level of 70 or 80 percent. You can be sure the level of investment would be very different if prices in the US were much lower. In practice the US is subsidizing drug development for the rest of the world.
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