Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 134 posts

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#11

Post by blackbear_ »

KumaBear wrote: post #6
mistrial9 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

big Pharma has properties unlike many other business. The R&D is very, very expensive and, income is not directly related to expenses each year. The natural "moat" is such that only a relatively few, giant and wealthy, companies exist over time. ref- The Billion Dollar Molecule

Why does the US consumer of said medications subsidize many other countries who have access to the same medications for a fraction of the US sticker price?

Because US voters prefer the free market as opposed to government regulation and nationalized healthcare.

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#12

Post by dfxm12 »

KumaBear wrote: post #6
mistrial9 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

big Pharma has properties unlike many other business. The R&D is very, very expensive and, income is not directly related to expenses each year. The natural "moat" is such that only a relatively few, giant and wealthy, companies exist over time. ref- The Billion Dollar Molecule

Why does the US consumer of said medications subsidize many other countries who have access to the same medications for a fraction of the US sticker price?

Lots of reasons. One of them is that other countries negotiate deals country wide and can get bulk discounts. The US does this with the VA and Medicare, and people using those services generally pay less than the rest of Americans. In the end, it is largely a policy choice, as having a single payer could get better negotiated deals on drugs.

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-medicare-negot...

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#13

Post by philipallstar »

ck2 wrote: post #10

Why is the supreme-court slow-walking the tariff decision which is crystal clear as lower courts clearly demonstrate only Congress can set taxes/tariffs? It would end inflation within 90 days Even their silly 15% tariff fallback law abuse would be more sane than the 50-150% currently Next few years is going to be insanity

There was a lot of inflation before tariffs, and it didn't even have the effect of slowing China down economically or Russia militarily.

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#14

Post by Analemma_ »

ck2 wrote: post #10

Why is the supreme-court slow-walking the tariff decision which is crystal clear as lower courts clearly demonstrate only Congress can set taxes/tariffs? It would end inflation within 90 days Even their silly 15% tariff fallback law abuse would be more sane than the 50-150% currently Next few years is going to be insanity

Mate, this Supreme Court ruled that the President is immune to prosecution and de facto outside and above the law. I’m honestly not sure what to tell you if you’re still hoping for rule-of-law decisions to come out of it.

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#15

Post by mothballed »

philipallstar wrote: post #13
ck2 wrote: post #10

Why is the supreme-court slow-walking the tariff decision which is crystal clear as lower courts clearly demonstrate only Congress can set taxes/tariffs? It would end inflation within 90 days Even their silly 15% tariff fallback law abuse would be more sane than the 50-150% currently Next few years is going to be insanity

There was a lot of inflation before tariffs, and it didn't even have the effect of slowing China down economically or Russia militarily.

It slowed down Americans because we aren't recently used to it. The rich did adapt relatively quickly by buying up all the housing they could at negative real interest, stocks, gold, and to a lesser extent crypto.

The lesson has been learned by this point though, even a day laborer is holding silver and crypto nowadays because we have in recent memory the COVID shenanigans of mass QE.

People in China and Russia have basically taken for granted so long that their currency is completely manipulated, they all already knew to not be hoodwinked.

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#16

Post by mystraline »

dfxm12 wrote: post #3
bediger4000 wrote: post #2

But of a paywall there, can't tell if raw materials and precursors are costing more, or R&D spend is up, or employee wages and salaries have risen. Those are usually the "pressures" on prices. I can't understand what or who might be applying "pressure" to lower prices on oligopolistic pharmaceutical makers.

Rueters doesn't show a paywall for me. The source of the pressure described is in the headline though. I'm not sure why OP editorialized it (as it is against hn guidelines): Exclusive: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure from Trump .

I think its obvious: theres a LOT of love for Trump here in VC circles. So anything speaking ill of his laughable policies, EO's, and other garbage is -1'ed or flagged to oblivion.

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#17

Post by Uvix »

vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #4

"Rome said the companies seem to be maximizing prices while negotiating discounts behind the scenes with health and drug insurers and then setting yet another price for direct-to-consumer cash-pay sales." This describes the biggest problem in US healthcare. No clear and consistent pricing. If we had a real market, you would get a prescription and then go to the seller with the lowest price. And everybody would get th…

Health insurance in general is the problem; PBMs/discount cards are just a cherry on top. Insurance is fundamentally incompatible with clear and consistent pricing.

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#18

Post by BiteCode_dev »

KumaBear wrote: post #6
mistrial9 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

big Pharma has properties unlike many other business. The R&D is very, very expensive and, income is not directly related to expenses each year. The natural "moat" is such that only a relatively few, giant and wealthy, companies exist over time. ref- The Billion Dollar Molecule

Why does the US consumer of said medications subsidize many other countries who have access to the same medications for a fraction of the US sticker price?

This is not like IT where the Americans are completely dominant and clearly superior.

The European pharma companies are doing more than fine, despite their main market being heavily regulated and price-controlled.

The less charitable explanation is that US companies want to charge outrageous prices, and the American system let them to, so they do it.

That's what the USA are: a machine to prioritize profits over people. Sometimes it turns out fine, like for the startup scene. Sometimes it's terrible, like when lives at stake.

Other explanations sound like heavy copium to me.

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#19

Post by Workaccount2 »

vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #4

"Rome said the companies seem to be maximizing prices while negotiating discounts behind the scenes with health and drug insurers and then setting yet another price for direct-to-consumer cash-pay sales." This describes the biggest problem in US healthcare. No clear and consistent pricing. If we had a real market, you would get a prescription and then go to the seller with the lowest price. And everybody would get th…

Last year I needed to get blood work done, some of which may or may not be covered.

It took me two weeks, dozens of phone calls, and multiple "escalations" to learn what would be covered and what the price would be if it wasn't

Totally insane. The kicker is that after all that, the price I was billed wasn't even the price I was given (thankfully it was less though).

Re: Drugmakers raise US prices on 350 medicines despite pressure

#20

Post by megaman821 »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #18
KumaBear wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does the US consumer of said medications subsidize many other countries who have access to the same medications for a fraction of the US sticker price?

This is not like IT where the Americans are completely dominant and clearly superior. The European pharma companies are doing more than fine, despite their main market being heavily regulated and price-controlled. The less charitable explanation is that US companies want to charge outrageous prices, and the American system let them to, so they do it. That's what the USA are: a machine to prioritize profits over peopl…

Those European companies make most their profit in the US. They would be much smaller without access to the US market.
Post reply on HN