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Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

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Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#31

Post by georgeplusplus »

save_ferris wrote: post #5
yakz wrote: post #2

Antiviral drugs for hepatitis C are very effective, but they come at a steep cost. Just one Sovaldi pill costs $1,000. A full 12-week course of treatment with this drug costs $84,000. The price of other hepatitis C drugs is also high: Harvoni costs $94,500 for a 12-week treatment Mavyret costs $39,600 for a 12-week treatment Zepatier costs $54,600 for a 12-week treatment Technivie costs $76,653 for a 12-week treatmen…

That is so depressing to read. US pharma companies are completely out of control, there’s absolutely no reason a 12 week treatment should cost around the mean annual US income. Can’t imagine having to decide to risk my entire financial future to deal with Hep C.

What’s the alternative? This gets tiresome asking because the typically argument is to say “This is crAzYyyy!!!! “ without offering any real solution or input.

gilead the makers of Harvoni literally made a cure for a previously uncureable disease, You literally have no respect on a tech site of all places, for all the RnD that went into doing that.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#32

Post by ameister14 »

lawn wrote: post #14
ohyes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s priced based on ability to pay. US it will be 100,000 other countries it will be less.

Ability to pay? Is that a joke? Considering that 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense[0], what makes you think they can pay $84,000 for a 12-week treatment? [0]: https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-house...

Most Americans wouldn't end up paying the 84k. Their insurance would pay for most of that, and negotiate it down further - the other day I was picking up a drug that without insurance would cost over $1,000. I paid $34.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#33

Post by nradov »

lawn wrote: post #14
ohyes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s priced based on ability to pay. US it will be 100,000 other countries it will be less.

Ability to pay? Is that a joke? Considering that 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense[0], what makes you think they can pay $84,000 for a 12-week treatment? [0]: https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-house...

The vast majority of Americans have some form of medical insurance so a patient's out of pocket expense would typically be far lower.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#34

Post by chmod775 »

nkozyra wrote: post #21
lawn wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ability to pay? Is that a joke? Considering that 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense[0], what makes you think they can pay $84,000 for a 12-week treatment? [0]: https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-house...

As with most commercial goods there's a market identified and the goods priced accordingly to maximize profit. This means that somebody is priced out no matter what. Given the state of American healthcare it's easier to reconcile if you remove the emotional part and view a drug treatment as, say, a television. If I make a 50" television and price it at $500, I accept that some people will not buy it and target my tel…

> All that said, if it's life saving you might be surprised what people can and will do, savings notwithstanding.

Withholding a life-saving treatment has to be criminal in some way.

I just can't imagine a hospital sending people home to die because they can't pay.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#35

Post by kaybe »

lawn wrote: post #14
ohyes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s priced based on ability to pay. US it will be 100,000 other countries it will be less.

Ability to pay? Is that a joke? Considering that 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense[0], what makes you think they can pay $84,000 for a 12-week treatment? [0]: https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-house...

That really should be an argument for collective payment so the mean ability to pay counts and nobody is priced out. I'll never understand how people can support the US health care system.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#36

Post by spaginal »

idclip wrote: post #3
yakz wrote: post #2

Antiviral drugs for hepatitis C are very effective, but they come at a steep cost. Just one Sovaldi pill costs $1,000. A full 12-week course of treatment with this drug costs $84,000. The price of other hepatitis C drugs is also high: Harvoni costs $94,500 for a 12-week treatment Mavyret costs $39,600 for a 12-week treatment Zepatier costs $54,600 for a 12-week treatment Technivie costs $76,653 for a 12-week treatmen…

Jesus how much did these drugs cost to develop? Are these numbers justified?

These drugs are priced this high for the sake of health insurance and the screwy pricing market based around it.

When you get the final bill with the “adjustments” and “discounts” it will be far less.

If you signaled to the provider you are paying cash it’s far less.

My physical therapy was $1200 a visit to my insurance provider, and magically $40 out of pocket once my insurance cut off my covered trips.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#37

Post by wadkar »

nkozyra wrote: post #21
lawn wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ability to pay? Is that a joke? Considering that 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense[0], what makes you think they can pay $84,000 for a 12-week treatment? [0]: https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-house...

As with most commercial goods there's a market identified and the goods priced accordingly to maximize profit. This means that somebody is priced out no matter what. Given the state of American healthcare it's easier to reconcile if you remove the emotional part and view a drug treatment as, say, a television. If I make a 50" television and price it at $500, I accept that some people will not buy it and target my tel…

Taking the television example a bit far - one can imagine that one company makes radio, other makes ~telephones~ cellphones, oven, etc. These are all electronic gadgets that are used for different purposes.

However, most if not the entirety of drugs is to cure disease and save lives (or significantly improve the quality of live). There is one market as opposed to a market each for the types of gadgets.

Which is why something as trivial as say a surgical equipment gets priced exorbitantly because without that there’s no “whole functioning gadget” (surgery).

The free market economy doesn’t work in this case.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#38

Post by nickthemagicman »

georgeplusplus wrote: post #31
save_ferris wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is so depressing to read. US pharma companies are completely out of control, there’s absolutely no reason a 12 week treatment should cost around the mean annual US income. Can’t imagine having to decide to risk my entire financial future to deal with Hep C.

What’s the alternative? This gets tiresome asking because the typically argument is to say “This is crAzYyyy!!!! “ without offering any real solution or input. gilead the makers of Harvoni literally made a cure for a previously uncureable disease, You literally have no respect on a tech site of all places, for all the RnD that went into doing that.

It's straight up price gouging though these companies are doing.

As usual the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#39

Post by Retric »

nradov wrote: post #33
lawn wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ability to pay? Is that a joke? Considering that 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency expense[0], what makes you think they can pay $84,000 for a 12-week treatment? [0]: https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-house...

The vast majority of Americans have some form of medical insurance so a patient's out of pocket expense would typically be far lower.

Insurance increases net costs via added overhead. So, it’s ~80k * ~1.30 * (number receiving treatment) / (people paying insurance). Aka, it’s both more expensive and more affordable.

Re: Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

#40

Post by lotsofpulp »

georgeplusplus wrote: post #31
save_ferris wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is so depressing to read. US pharma companies are completely out of control, there’s absolutely no reason a 12 week treatment should cost around the mean annual US income. Can’t imagine having to decide to risk my entire financial future to deal with Hep C.

What’s the alternative? This gets tiresome asking because the typically argument is to say “This is crAzYyyy!!!! “ without offering any real solution or input. gilead the makers of Harvoni literally made a cure for a previously uncureable disease, You literally have no respect on a tech site of all places, for all the RnD that went into doing that.

I wonder how many people that complain about healthcare costs would be willing to pay higher taxes for taxpayer funded research for medications and education to increase supply of doctors.
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