Who'd Have Thunk It? Bernie Sanders study reveals Americans pay four times more for medicine compared to wealthy countries

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

"Analysis released by the Government Acountability Office (GAO) found that US consumers and insurers paid 2.82 times more than in Canada, 4.25 times more than in Australia, and 4.36 times more than in France for 20 brand-named prescription drugs in 2020.

For example, 30 tablets of Xarelto, which treats blood clots, costs $558.33 in the US but just $85.44 in Canada. When purchasing 28 tablets of Epclusa to treat Hepatitis C, an infection that attacks the liver, it costs $36,743 in the US compared to $17,023.63 in Canada, according to the analysis."​

And that’s just for starters …..

Well I for one am, like, stunned ....

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

Yep Yep Yep Yep.

Some medications are so expensive your insurance may not approve them. Fortunately you can always just tell the big pharma company you are broke and don't have insurance, they will usually take care of you. Don't tell them you have Medicaid or Medicare, else forget it they will not help you.

 

[godlovesatrier]

My god you really do have it bad over there. 2 to 4 times is insane. Not sure what the private pricing is like in the UK.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Fortunately you can always just tell the big pharma company you are broke and don't have insurance, they will usually take care of you.

Thank you @nyanko_the_sane .... terrific, really helpful input that could make a real difference for a whole lotta people in these threads ....

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

My god you really do have it bad over there. 2 to 4 times is insane. Not sure what the private pricing is like in the UK.

You're right. Things stink over here, too.

But it's kind of a trade-off.

Because hospitals over here are dependent on their reputation and mortality rate in order to guarantee maximum patient load, they tend to be more responsive to patient's complaints and needs. Not all the time, and not necessarily because they care, but because they dont want the bad press, or any unfortunate nosing around by new members of congress looking to make a name for themselves .....and there;s few better ways to do that than to go after negligent or recklessly disregarding hospitals, doctors, or BigPharma ...

And we also have access to a wider range of medications and Drs than would be available in a one-payer system like the NHS, and if we're lucky enough to find one who has any grasp of, or interest in, our illness, we can go to them relatively easily, and often at way less than it would cost y'all for the equivalent of a Harley St physician.

And, as @nyanko_the_sane pointed out above, BigPharma, in an effort to clean up its really nasty image of greed and disregard for patient side effects or well-being, will pitch in and provide medications for free ....

All in all, and with all due respect to the NHS, I think I'd rather stick with the devil I know over here, pathetic as those two choices are ...

 

[Rufous McKinney]

My god you really do have it bad over there. 2 to 4 times is insane.

Its part of a massive redistribution of one's Gross Productivity. Some are simply hostage. Part of an industry of inflated everything.

The charge to hold your baby after a Cesearean.

So some of us worked and about nearly 1/3 of my income disappeared into medical insurance which provided me with no medical care.

Similar to the college tuition system- an entire industry of massively inflated costs- which you are expected to simply plug yourself into the formula, borrow tens of thousands of dollars a year, and go into debt. Thats the formula. Its all figured out.

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

So some of us worked and about nearly 1/3 of my income disappeared into medical insurance which provided me with no medical care.

I was paying over $1000 a month at one point for a plan that had $4000 deductible. It started out low and just kept creeping up, now there is a class action lawsuit against them. A single hospital stay did prove to make my policy worth the while, but I dropped it soon after.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I was paying over $1000 a month at one point for a plan that had $4000 deductible

Over thirty years- I was fortunate we only had: the appendicitis (my husband).

They mostlyl don't even cover my pills (off label, denied).

Its a big scam. And we are often trapped.

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

Why American Health Care Makes No Sense

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I'm so tired of not being able to play videos. I really miss that rich universe, and didnt realize how much it offered until everything I tried to play started clicking like crazy, with the sound track almost inaudibly floating underneath that..

Thank you for posting this @IThinkImTurningJapanese ....

 

[ahmo]

"Analysis released by the Government Acountability Office (GAO) found that US consumers and insurers paid 2.82 times more than in Canada, 4.25 times more than in Australia, and 4.36 times more than in France for 20 brand-named prescription drugs in 2020.

For example, 30 tablets of Xarelto, which treats blood clots, costs $558.33 in the US but just $85.44 in Canada. When purchasing 28 tablets of Epclusa to treat Hepatitis C, an infection that attacks the liver, it costs $36,743 in the US compared to $17,023.63 in Canada, according to the analysis."​

And that’s just for starters …..

Well I for one am, like, stunned ....

I'm California raised, living in Aus nearly half my life now. Could not imagine being sick in US. Well, actually, when I was first struggling w/ ME I constantly thought that if I was in US I wouldn't be able to go on. Anyway, let's hope health care reform hasn't been lost in the pile of ToDo list. xo