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by bitmover 1837 days ago
All I could think about reading that list is, "damn I'm glad we have a drug for that."
3 comments

Does it matter if nobody can afford it?
~nobody pays those prices out of pocket

There's absolutely no way you can have a medical system without insurance (either govt underwritten or private corporation underwritten) beyond something trivial like a village herbalist.

The only question is who does the underwriting and even more importantly how are the premiums collected (taxes, that is proportional to income, or flat fees).

That’s true, but everything also seems so much more expensive here, even after negotiations between private insurances and healthcare providers.
Well, of course, because in the US, you can get treatment. Here in Canada, you're either left on a stretcher in an over-crowded hospital, or being told "come back in 6 month to get your CT scan... [if you're still alive]". The current pandemic has even gotten worse, a close family member never got the luxury to get an appointment for a cancer appointment even though he was showing symptoms.
Canada is not the only country with a healthcare system that doesn't entirely copy the US.
We can talk about France if you want, where a family member was told to "suck it up" after an injury when he was able to go to a private hospital (he's got the money to consult specialists) and get his shoulder fixed there.
All I could thing was "damn, too bad so many people who desperately need these drugs can't afford them".
The max out-of-pocket for anyone insured in the US is $8,550 presently for an individual.

The big price tag is irrelevant, there's the most you can spend on approved treatments in a year.

And also IF you can get your insurance to cover or get it on formulary. The article lists links on most of these drugs the companies actively helping patients get it covered.
...Plus the money you pay monthly in order to have health insurance.
30 million Americans are uninsured. You can't just conveniently pretend 30 million humans don't exist to make a point.
> You can't just conveniently pretend 30 million humans don't exist to make a point.

You obviously can, especially if the point is about you being privileged and callous.

I honestly don't take your point. My point was that many important prescription drugs are unavailable to people who need them because they cannot afford them.
$8,550 is a lot of money to most Americans
Yep, medicine is incredible. The cost of medication is still a massive issue in the world, though.