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A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

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Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#101

Post by loeg »

ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #13
Aurornis wrote: post #8

FYI for anyone who isn't familiar with the wacky US insurance situation: Nobody in the US actually pays $800 for the drug. That's the "list price" for insurance companies to pay. Even insurance companies don't pay that price because they negotiate their own rates with the drug companies, which are lower. Then the drug companies come in and offer a "savings card" which you apply at the pharmacy like another layer of i…

All that handwaving and apology but yet >the actual cash-pay price is $225 So still 11x the price, plus whatever the prescription costs. Unforgiveable.

The FDA bears much of the responsibility for that cost, which GP explained.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#102

Post by ilovetux »

dyauspitr wrote: post #47
khannn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was on a blood thinner and the medication was very pricey. Didn't have insurance and the "savings card" covered fuck all unless you had insurance. There are three blood thinners on the US market and they all cost a lot.

If you don’t have insurance, you’re essentially fucked in the US but this thread is not referencing that situation. My CAT scan was billed for $10,000 but what I paid was about $200 with insurance. Without insurance I would owe $10k.

The insurance company is not a charity. You will (or already have) pay the full price.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#103

Post by erentz »

dyauspitr wrote: post #47
khannn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was on a blood thinner and the medication was very pricey. Didn't have insurance and the "savings card" covered fuck all unless you had insurance. There are three blood thinners on the US market and they all cost a lot.

If you don’t have insurance, you’re essentially fucked in the US but this thread is not referencing that situation. My CAT scan was billed for $10,000 but what I paid was about $200 with insurance. Without insurance I would owe $10k.

Depending on your situation, if non emergency and you were able to ask the cash price beforehand you might be surprised that you can get the same CT scan for less than what insurance ultimately paid. At least that’s my experience ($450 vs $1200). You may have to ask at a diagnostic imaging place, not the hospital since the hospitals can never tell you what anything costs they aren’t set up for it. (Of course I went through insurance since I didn’t want to pay out of pocket, but it was an interesting lesson in one of the reasons why healthcare is unnecessarily expensive in the US.)

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#104

Post by flumpcakes »

Aurornis wrote: post #11
ghostDancer wrote: post #5

Nothing says capitalism and free market like good extortion on health products and services. That's the way to go USA.

There is no free market at play here. This is the result of FDA regulations not allowing anyone to sell it unless they did a New Drug Application first, which could cost a billion or more. Therefore nobody in the free market was allowed to sell it without putting up the capital first, which they have to collect back now. You could actually order this from amazon.de up until recently and have it shipped to you. That s…

Drugs and healthcare products should definitely be regulated so people get quality products with provable efficacy. Saying that, how the hell does an application for a new drug with the FDA cost $1Bn?! Clearly something is wrong there.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#105

Post by rootusrootus »

averageRoyalty wrote: post #24
Insanity wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that might be worse than just having the high price. Such a kafka-esque systems just to get medicine.

Absolutely. I'd prefer to go to the pharmacy and just pay my $20 and go.

That's usually how it works for me in the US. I go in to the pharmacy, and at least half the time they say 'no cost' and hand me my medication. Sometimes I pay a $25 copay. And if I get an expensive drug from Eli Lilly (e.g. Zepbound) then Eli Lilly pays Walgreens up to $1950/year on my behalf and I never even know about it. The only way I figured it out myself was trying to figure out why my insurance said they paid X, and I paid Y, but I had actually only paid $25. Took a trip onto a Zepbound subreddit to learn about the backdoor payment thing. "Savings card" but not actually a card.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#106

Post by jaggederest »

wagwang wrote: post #91
andy99 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is all the Miebo/Evotears that’s manufactured being dumped directly into the drinking water supply?

How do you think pfas got into the water supply in the first place.

Largely firefighting foams, industrial and manufacturing, and landfill sources, but it's still an interesting problem. They don't really break down (that's why they're so useful both in a materials science sense and as a medication) which implies they'll stick around for an extremely long time.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#107

Post by loeg »

oakesm9 wrote: post #68
BeetleB wrote: post #29

If Americans didn't pay $800 for it, how would Europeans afford it?

Such an easily debunkable line with even the tiniest bit of critical thinking. You’re basically saying the drug companies subsidise a loss in Europe by over charging Americans, right? As the drug company is a private and doesn’t have to sell everywhere, why wouldn’t they just skip the loss making Europeans and just sell to Americans? They’d make more profit that way! That must mean they make some profit from the Euro…

It's true in general, but not the reason this specific drug is more expensive here.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#108

Post by AlexCoventry »

khannn wrote: post #22
brianherbert wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These "savings cards" have a maximum annual benefit applied to them so for those on insurance that do not cover those expensive medications or who are self-paying use up the benefits before year end and do in fact eventually pay full sticker price.

I was on a blood thinner and the medication was very pricey. Didn't have insurance and the "savings card" covered fuck all unless you had insurance. There are three blood thinners on the US market and they all cost a lot.

> There are three blood thinners on the US market and they all cost a lot.

What about Warfarin? Its $21 for 30 pills, according to https://www.goodrx.com/warfarin

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#109

Post by Muromec »

actionfromafar wrote: post #74
dotancohen wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you prefer sunny (Greece) or snowy (Norway)? You can just pay your $20 and go. It is an option.

I prefer to pay thousands in tariffs and/or private companies, thank you very much. I'm not a communist.

Sir, your visa application is denied anyways.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#110

Post by throwmeaway820 »

oakesm9 wrote: post #68
BeetleB wrote: post #29

If Americans didn't pay $800 for it, how would Europeans afford it?

Such an easily debunkable line with even the tiniest bit of critical thinking. You’re basically saying the drug companies subsidise a loss in Europe by over charging Americans, right? As the drug company is a private and doesn’t have to sell everywhere, why wouldn’t they just skip the loss making Europeans and just sell to Americans? They’d make more profit that way! That must mean they make some profit from the Euro…

> why wouldn’t they just skip the loss making Europeans and just sell to Americans?

this argument is easily dismissible for any product that has high fixed costs but low marginal costs

which applies to a lot of drugs

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