For far too long, political interests have cost taxpayers and those on Medicare and/or Medicaid far too much, primarily due to policies that have denied us the ability to negotiate on pricing and importing.
Pharmaceutical lobbying has played a massive role in this country's prohibition against Medicare negotiating pricing, which is absolutely absurd, especially when so many in OUR Congress bemoan the costs of such programs. Peak doublespeak. They say what you want to hear, while behind their booming voices are whispers dripping poison in your ear. Negotiation, after all, is a cornerstone of capitalism, so why is it left aside when it comes to lifesaving drugs?
Importing is also a cornerstone of our capitalist system. Why would we not allow it with prescription drugs? Does anyone really believe Canada's drugs pose a greater risk than ours?
High drug prices with an aging population are incredibly harmful to the longevity of both Medicare and the very lives of those who rely on it. One must begin, at some point, to wonder, if not ask, why do this?
None of this is by chance or an oversight. It is by design. It is intended to make more money for faceless corporations at the cost of those with real lives, real families, and real costs for survival. The current system has killed, and it must be stopped.
Fortunately, some people and some states have already begun to force change. Governor Newsome in California, one of the largest economies in the world, has begun to throw the state's weight around. This resulted in the price of insulin dropping to 30 dollars a month, down from prices that often hit 300 dollars a month. Many people have died due to an inability to afford insulin. This change alone will not only save money, it will save lives.
It is a great starting point and one that hopefully is just the beginning.
Many drug manufacturers would rather fall in line with California's demands than lose the income from their economy completely.
This has already worked on car requirements and safety measures. California raised their standards on safety, emissions, and more. The result? Car companies simply produce to those standards rather than create two different, but nearly identical, cars simply because it costs the manufacturer more to do so.
The same will be true for pharmaceutical companies.