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Why is healthcare prohibitively expensive in the US?

marke said:
Research and development is extremely expensive. If there is no reasonable expectation of a return on investments into drug research then the research will stop for financial reasons. No company executive would be wise to spend billions on research with no expectation of that research being paid for by the future sales of the drugs developed by the research.
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Drug prices could be reduced substantially and they'd still recoup a profit on R&D.

I get the point that R&D has to be rewarded or it won't happen, but that has to be balanced against the interests of the public in obtaining necessary medical care at a reasonable price.
 
AmNat said:
Drug prices could be reduced substantially and they'd still recoup a profit on R&D.

I get the point that R&D has to be rewarded or it won't happen, but that has to be balanced against the interests of the public in obtaining necessary medical care at a reasonable price.
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Socialism regulates business in the interest of the public, not realizing that too much regulation hampers business freedom and success which the public should realize are important to the freedom, success and prosperity of all of its citizens.
 
It's a for profit system and profits are more important than your health care.
 
marke said:
Socialism regulates business in the interest of the public, not realizing that too much regulation hampers business freedom and success which the public should realize are important to the freedom, success and prosperity of all of its citizens.
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Marke, I'm not a socialist but there are many segments of industries that are not commercially viable without some favoring government legislation and/or subsidy. I'm not a fascist, but there are legally enforced government regulations upon individuals and organizations that are necessary or critical to our society.

What government does, or proposes, or refrains from doing should all be examined to whatever extents are feasible; they should stand or fall due to their existing or lacking merits.
The purely simplistic world that libertarians imagine has never, and will never actually exist. But if we fail to aim higher, we cannot approach the paradises we may not even imagine.

Respectfully, Supposn
 
I'm Supposn said:
Marke, I'm not a socialist but there are many segments of industries that are not commercially viable without some favoring government legislation and/or subsidy. I'm not a fascist, but there are legally enforced government regulations upon individuals and organizations that are necessary or critical to our society.

What government does, or proposes, or refrains from doing should all be examined to whatever extents are feasible; they should stand or fall due to their existing or lacking merits.
The purely simplistic world that libertarians imagine has never, and will never actually exist. But if we fail to aim higher, we cannot approach the paradises we may not even imagine.

Respectfully, Supposn
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How does mandated wage rates and benefits serve the nation as a whole better than free market constraints do? And that is just one point among thousands.
 
marke said:
Socialism regulates business in the interest of the public, not realizing that too much regulation hampers business freedom and success which the public should realize are important to the freedom, success and prosperity of all of its citizens.
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What is "too much regulation" is precisely the point.

In any case, patents are a legal monopoly (they couldn't exist in a pure free market), so it's quite reasonable for the state to regulate their terms and conditions.
 
AmNat said:
What is "too much regulation" is precisely the point.

In any case, patents are a legal monopoly (they couldn't exist in a pure free market), so it's quite reasonable for the state to regulate their terms and conditions.
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Managing patents is OK. Telling researchers how much they can charge for medicines they developed at great cost is not OK.
 
marke said:
Managing patents is OK. Telling researchers how much they can charge for medicines they developed at great cost is not OK.
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When was the last novel medicine produced? Much of the "R&D" nowadays goes into rehashing existing drugs to prolong the patents and wring the maximum profit from essentially the same thing.
Pharma companies spend more promoting drugs than they do on R&D by half as much again. Advertising to the public bypasses the clinician's clinical judgement, so patients appear demanding the latest glossiest packaged newest drugs, which may not necessarily be best for them, but they have the best profit margin. for the drug company.
 
Manc Skipper said:
When was the last novel medicine produced? Much of the "R&D" nowadays goes into rehashing existing drugs to prolong the patents and wring the maximum profit from essentially the same thing.
Pharma companies spend more promoting drugs than they do on R&D by half as much again. Advertising to the public bypasses the clinician's clinical judgement, so patients appear demanding the latest glossiest packaged newest drugs, which may not necessarily be best for them, but they have the best profit margin. for the drug company.
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Want drugs cheaper? Get democrats to pass legislation mandating price caps on research and see how well that works, if you think it will.
 
All health care is not unaffordable. Simple primary care would be but hospital care will never be. No matter how you change the system increase competition whatever you can't escape the fact that modern hospital care costs a lot to deliver at point of sale. Trauma Centers, ERs, Operating Theaters, Intensive care units, Radiology, Medical Labs, maintaining cleanliness and avoiding infectious disease spread all require millions of dollars worth of equipment and are staffed by highly skilled and highly paid professionals. There is no getting around those facts. Very few individuals can afford the cost of modern hospital care. It must be a communal form of payment or rationing by wealth.
 
marke said:
Want drugs cheaper? Get democrats to pass legislation mandating price caps on research and see how well that works, if you think it will.
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More is spent on advertising than research. Cap that first. I get drugs cheaper already. I don't live in the ripoff USA.
 
Manc Skipper said:
More is spent on advertising than research. Cap that first. I get drugs cheaper already. I don't live in the ripoff USA.
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Just because disgruntled drug users don't like paying too much for their drugs, they think that makes them experts on how they think the government should manage the businesses of drug companies.
 
marke said:
Just because disgruntled drug users don't like paying too much for their drugs, they think that makes them experts on how they think the government should manage the businesses of drug companies.
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I pay for my drugs. I pay a little over ten dollars per item for 3 months supply.

Actually, that should read "paid". Now I'm over 65 and collecting a pension, my drugs are free. To me and all other pensioners.

I live in an enlightened country with universal healthcare where the weakest are not sent to the wall.
 
marke said:
How does mandated wage rates and benefits serve the nation as a whole better than free-market constraints do? And that is just one point among thousands.
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I'm Supposn said:
Marke posted this question within the thread entitled “Why is healthcare prohibitively expensive in the US?”. Respectfully, Supposn
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Marke, I responded to your question within the thread entitled, (H.R. 582, “Raise the wage act”). Respectfully, Supposn
 
Manc Skipper said:
I pay for my drugs. I pay a little over ten dollars per item for 3 months supply.

Actually, that should read "paid". Now I'm over 65 and collecting a pension, my drugs are free. To me and all other ensioners.

I live in an enlightened country with universal healthcare where the weakest are not sent to the wall.
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How much does your enlightened country spend on welfare, illegal immigrate care, disability, and scientific research, to name a few? Has your country spent itself into $10 trillion more debt in just 8 years? If not then your enlightened country may actually be spending money more wisely than the US is.
 
marke said:
How much does your enlightened country spend on welfare, illegal immigrate care, disability, and scientific research, to name a few? Has your country spent itself into $10 trillion more debt in just 8 years? If not then your enlightened country may actually be spending money more wisely than the US is.
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Healthcare is the topic, not random hate objects or soundbites from the far right... The US "system" is a process of money extraction, not healthcare.
 
Manc Skipper said:
Healthcare is the topic, not random hate objects or soundbites from the far right... The US "system" is a process of money extraction, not healthcare.
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If we switched to capitalism only those providers who offered always lower prices and higher quality would survive. We don't have capitalism because liberals lack the IQ to understand capitalism. Instead we have something simple enough for liberals to understand, namely, always more welfare healthcare.
 
Manc Skipper said:
my drugs are free.
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what you are trying to say is free for the thief but not for the person who is getting ripped off to pay for it. Did the liberal think money grows on trees??
 
Manc Skipper said:
I live in an enlightened country with universal healthcare where the weakest are not sent to the wall.
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Enlightened?? Where liberal politicians are always promising to rip off the minority for the votes of the majority. Democracy was never envisioned as theft.
 
James972 said:
If we switched to capitalism only those providers who offered always lower prices and higher quality would survive. We don't have capitalism because liberals lack the IQ to understand capitalism. Instead we have something simple enough for liberals to understand, namely, always more welfare healthcare.
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We dont have free market healthcare because that does notcwirk in any country on planet earth.


Duh
 
Manc Skipper said:
More is spent on advertising than research.
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Dear, if you don't advertise, nobody knows about your product, nobody buys it, prices are sky high and there is no incentive to do research. You see how capitalism is far too complicated for liberals to grasp. The very presence of liberalism is the biggest danger to our country.
 
Manc Skipper said:
Healthcare is the topic, not random hate objects or soundbites from the far right... The US "system" is a process of money extraction, not healthcare.
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Surely you do not wish to imply the US should be able to afford universal healthcare just like any other country in spite of the huge differences in debt and deficits between them?
 
marke said:
US should be able to afford universal healthcare
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don't be silly liberals want universal college, universal income guarantees, universal health care, universal housing, universal food, etc etc. Its so immature a child could see through it, but not liberals who are no more sophisticated than a child who thinks Santa Claus can deliver everything.
 
marke said:
Surely you do not wish to imply the US should be able to afford universal healthcare just like any other country in spite of the huge differences in debt and deficits between them?
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Yes it should
 
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