Drug makers have tripled the prices of top Medicare drugs

In 2021, Medicare spent nearly $81 billion on these 25 drugs.

See full article...

 

[horatio77]

Healthcare and capitalism, a heartwarming American love story of profit and misery.

 

[ZippyPeanut]

Ain't capitalism great!!!

 

[nzeid]

I'm sure this comment will be followed by many criticisms of capitalism but I'll gladly break the ice: as long as there is no check on the price of a drug on the market, what the market "bears" will always be what anyone will pay not to die. It's a fucked up system right out the door. To make matters more absurd, countries that regulate prices often pay 10% what we (Americans) pay and yet drug makers don't hesitate doing business there.

 

[zstansfi]

It's pretty shocking to see that the sticker price for lantus, an insulin that has been on the market for over 2 decades, has risen so much. It should have been off patent almost 10 years ago. According to this Stat article, secondary patents were used to fend off generic competion for longer: https://www.statnews.com/2018/12/07/patent-abuse-rising-drug-prices-lantus/

I wonder to what extent this kind of practice used to prevent generic competition is a factor behind the price hikes of these meds.

 

[milkywayer]

Moving from the US back to South Asia was a blessing for medical costs. Meds that used to cost $ 20 in the USA now cost $2 here in PAKISTAN. All these massive big pharma profits are thanks to American politicians.

 

[C.M. Allen]

None of these medicines are the difference between life and death, they do what older, patent free medications do but better. Medicare should be willing to give seniors older forms of insulin for example to save money.

If they do it better, then they DO make the difference between life and death. You can't be 'mostly' alive because your medicines 'mostly' did the job.

 

[windnwar]

Only in the US is this sort of abuse legal and standard business practice. And the cry of oh it'll prevent us spending money on R&D if we can't rake in billions in profits by overcharging is ridiculous since most of these companies spend twice as much or more on advertising and lobbying than they do on R&D. Worse many of these drugs were funded in part by the NIH during research and trial phases. Often the work is done by a small company that is then bought out by one of the major pharma companies for a tidy sum and then milked as hard as possible for the life of the patents. With many of the drugs costing pennies per dose to produce yet they get away with charging from hundreds to thousands of times more for it simply because they can.

Their greed literally costs lives and they just do not care.

 

[geekydee]

Pigs squeal real loud when you take the trough away...

 

[Tikayeliss]

It's pretty shocking to see that the sticker price for lantus, an insulin that has been on the market for over 2 decades, has risen so much. It should have been off patent almost 10 years ago. According to this Stat article, secondary patents were used to fend off generic competion for longer: https://www.statnews.com/2018/12/07/patent-abuse-rising-drug-prices-lantus/

I wonder to what extent this kind of practice used to prevent generic competition is a factor behind the price hikes of these meds.

If only you could patent the novel patent abuse techniques.

 

[Nowicki]

Corporate motto: Despite the cost of living its still a pretty popular expense.

 

[nzeid]

The market won't bear anything because the cost isn't passed onto the consumer directly nor are we even looking at the effects since we're effectively printing money to cover this.

All of the costs is getting piled into debt, and a lot of that is the national debt (since it's medicare) that no one in congress cares about since it's just a invisible number to them.

I'm not an expert on the specific ways you can challenge drug prices, but it sounds like this is exactly the problem that collective bargaining solves since the government is itself a market force. My point still stands.

 

[Bad Monkey!]

I'm not revolutionary socialist by any means, I'm far from it, but some people just deserve the wall.

 

[windnwar]

It's pretty shocking to see that the sticker price for lantus, an insulin that has been on the market for over 2 decades, has risen so much. It should have been off patent almost 10 years ago. According to this Stat article, secondary patents were used to fend off generic competion for longer: https://www.statnews.com/2018/12/07/patent-abuse-rising-drug-prices-lantus/

I wonder to what extent this kind of practice used to prevent generic competition is a factor behind the price hikes of these meds.

They have paid generic companies to delay introduction, and lately many of the generic companies seeing the money that can be made have increased their prices quite a bit as well, so long as they are cheaper even by a few percent they can still make a killing and many of the generics aren't produced by multiple companies. Using secondary patents or claiming an old version is no longer safe to be used, so you need to use the new version instead which also has a new patent is a typical way drug companies have gotten around patent limits.

Anything to maintain a monopoly for as long as possible. I take a statin that becomes generic next year as its the only one I can take, but I had to try 4 others and show I had major side effects to each before I was authorized to take this one due to the outrageous price the maker charges for it while it's still name brand. I fully expect them to try an delay generics from coming to market if they can. Cost difference for a 30 day supply of this vs other statins, is about $1000 for this one and $15 for the others, yet I can assure you it doesn't cost them that much more to make it.

 

[What a nin-cow-poop]

Drug makers also claim negotiating prices will cut into profits, preventing them from funding research and development into new drugs.

Read as, "But my bonus will be smaller! That's un-American!"

 

[Nowicki]

I'm not revolutionary socialist by any means, I'm far from it, but some people just deserve the wall.

I wouldnt even let them listen to pink floyd. Maybe they deserve baby shark instead

/s

 

[windnwar]

The reason those small companies get bought out and can't do it alone is because they do not have the money to afford bringing the drug to market. Clinical trials cost too much money!

Those trials are often funded by the NIH at taxpayer expense. They aren't the source of the costs of drugs. Try again...

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

"If I don't get these drugs, I'll die. Why won't you let me buy them?"
"Because we want to get more money."
"... and?"
"That's it. That's the reason."

 

[IncorrigibleTroll]

Pigs squeal real loud when you take the trough away...

The pigs should consider themselves extremely fortunate that they aren't being shipped directly to an abattoir and keep in mind that enough squealing might change that particular decision.

 

[vlam]

The reason those small companies get bought out and can't do it alone is because they do not have the money to afford bringing the drug to market. Clinical trials cost too much money!

That's literally not how generic drugs work.

 

[Snazster]

It is codified in US law that any time the US Govt so wishes, they may manufacture, or hire someone to manufacture, anything--even if it is under patent, and resell it at whatever price it wants. It is also up to the US Govt how much of those sales, to reimburse the patent holder, if they decide to reimburse at all. 10% is suggested but it doesn't even have to be that high.

If our big-pharma campaign contribution hungry Congress critters would do this just a few times, it would probably solve the problem by adjusting the attitudes of the hyper-charging pharmas.

 

[Mad Klingon]

One simple solution. Pass a law that mandates that while companies are free to set a price for a drug or product, that price has to apply to ALL customers. No more special rates for other countries, Insurance companies, Medicare or paying cash.

 

[altsuperego]

The healthcare industry is going to bankrupt this country

 

[paq]

Capitalism works as long as there is no monopoly (be it a single company or a cartel). Doesn't seem like the US healthcare system is able to avoid collusion among the largest drug companies. A simple law that would allow importing drugs from other countries (for starters let's say only EU and EU-approved drugs) would cure that monopolistic behavior.
I'm from EU and travel insurance is quite often the world without US and US is extra because it doubles the rate. Your prices are completely absurd - friend that lives in US buys plane tickets to Europe when he wants to visit a dentist and it's still cheaper.

 

[Imbrium]

The market won't bear anything because the cost isn't passed onto the consumer directly nor are we even looking at the effects since we're effectively printing money to cover this.

All of the costs is getting piled into debt, and a lot of that is the national debt (since it's medicare) that no one in congress cares about since it's just a invisible number to them.

Where did you get that idea? Those costs are passed directly to the consumer, which is why too many people have to ration their medications or go without them entirely.

You know who is roasting in hell? Hitler, Stalin, and pharma company executives.

 

[Legatum_of_Kain]

Capitalism: The line must go up more every quarter at the expense of the poor people's lives.

 

[windnwar]

Before people get excited about Massive Price Gouging! and Eeeee-vil Capitalism! might I offer a comment, from the perspective of someone who has filled hundreds of Medicare prescriptions?

I am skeptical of the AARP "study". The prices they are tossing around are "retail" prices, not the actual price the consumer will pay. As the caregiver for my mother, in her final years, I enrolled her in a Medicare Advantage plan that (for $80/month) provided all of her medications at no extra charge. (Medicare Advantage is a [clutch your pearls, kiddees] privatizing of Medicare, where the federal government pays a per-capita fee to a private insurance company to provide better coverage for less money.)

How substantial is the delta between retail pricing and what the doctor, hospital, or pharmacy actually gets paid (and happily accepts)? In my mother's last five weeks of her life, the hospital billed the Medicare Advantage plan $453,000. The plan paid $33,000--and the hospital was perfectly happy.

There's a similar delta between what the retail price of a drug might be, and the actual price paid by the consumer. Month after month after month, I picked up "meds for Mom" and never paid a penny.

The timing of a gang of politicians beating up on pharmaceutical companies in an election year seems...ever so convenient.

What you seem to be missing is that the cost delta is often still picked up by the insurance company, and then everyone else pays for it with the next round of insurance hikes. You the consumer may not see the full bill, but even after discounts the insurance company negotiates, often with itself these days as insurance groups owning the pharmacy and the pharmacy benefit middleman are all the same company still ends up being far more than the actual cost of the drug. Your cost may be low or free, but it's not free to all those insured or the businesses that self insure. You also are missing the bit where the formulary for Medicare Advantage plans can change after you've signed up and a drug that was covered is suddenly not covered and then costs you considerably out of pocket. Medicare Advantage plans have much higher rates of denying coverage, drastically limiting doctors networks but hey, they might throw in a free gym membership...

 

[IncorrigibleTroll]

One simple solution. Pass a law that mandates that while companies are free to set a price for a drug or product, that price has to apply to ALL customers. No more special rates for other countries, Insurance companies, Medicare or paying cash.

Laws like that exist already for a lot of other government purchases, so there's precedent. Unfortunately, vendors also happen to be incredibly adept at gaming those laws such that they aren't terribly effective. Snazster's end-run approach is more likely to make a decent impact.

 

[Frodo Douchebaggins]

Drugs made with research done by taxpayer funded grants at taxpayer funded universities purchased at inflated prices with taxpayer money while also being sold cheaper in other countries.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

I am skeptical of the AARP "study". The prices they are tossing around are "retail" prices, not the actual price the consumer will pay.

Until drugmakers are forced to negotiate prices, isn't the list price used to determine what the government pays them under Part D to make up for what the consumer pays? At the very least I imagine it forms the starting point. Isn't it similar with private insurance?

So we all pay in the end to funnel this money into drugmakers' pockets.

What's the purpose of a "list price" if nobody pays it?

 

[siliconaddict]

I have a friend who works in the pharma business as a scientist. I'm a little careful around what I say around him but I can't stress enough how fucked up our society is when it comes to life necessities like medical, food, water, shelter. We aren't talking about frivolous items like an EV. I received an MRI last month. All the various things it can see in a 5 minute activity is impressive and frankly should be cheap enough to be able to do this once per year for everyone.....but now I'm waiting for the bill that I expect to be expensive AF even with insurance. Only in Medical and Military tech does the price NOT come down over time as tech ages. CT and MRI's core technologies are old as hell at this point.....maintenance contracts, training aside, everything in medical from pharma down to hardware is a scam when it comes to costs.

 

[ColdWetDog]

The only way to solve this is with competition.

The government needs to examine and eliminate the unofficial and official "non-compete" agreements where large generic companies get paid to delay the release of an off-patent drug.

The government also needs to massively reduce the costs related to FDA approval and trials. The majority of the cost in developing drugs is in the clinical development stage, not discovery.

If you cut out advertising (I know, crazy talk) then there would be plenty left for research including clinical trials. Trails are always going to be expensive. Suck it up, buttercup.

 

[joshv]

Simple solution, you want to charge whatever you want to the US tax payer, sign every single one of the patents used by the drug over into the public domain. Then charge through the nose, while you can before the generics come.

You don't however get to benefit from both the non-competitive regulatory protections of US patent AND non-competitive price setting with the largest government healthcare buyer. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[LuDux]

If even one single person dies because they can't afford these price hikes that should be prosecuted as conspiracy to manslaughter.