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by route66 4504 days ago
Isn't it a much simpler explanation that healthcare should never be a free market as one of it's participants, the "patient" is not participating voluntarily?

(This is not a direct response to your post, but I place it here as you put a market argument upfront)
2 comments
bsaul 4504 days ago
I'm not judging the systems. I, personaly, much rather live under the french nhs than the US one.

But i just wanted to provide some perspective to that generaly over optimistic OP post. The fact that cancer drugs are created in the US is not a coincidence. It's an ecosystem where there is a lot of money to be made, and as we know it in IT, money drives innovation.

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eropple 4504 days ago
ICI discovered tamoxifen before AstraZeneca bought them. They're British. Femara (letrozole) and Afinitor (everolimus) are Novartis (Switzerland). Campostar was discovered by Pharmacia, a Swedish company that's now part of Pfizer.

The U.S. by no means has a monopoly on "cancer drugs".

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bsaul 4504 days ago
It would be interesting to see where the labs for those companies are, and what's their primary market.

But thanks, i didn't know that. Maybe the british and swiss R&D isn't in such a bad state as France.

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dantheman 4504 days ago
The majority of health care costs are non emergency, at that point it's no different than needing food.
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beagle3 4504 days ago
It's very different from food: While the majority is not emergency, the majority IS chronic conditions, which are not comparable to food:

If McDonald is too expensive for you, you can switch to Ramen.

If Insulin is too expensive for you, what do you switch to?

If Radiation therapy is too expensive, what 7do you switch to?

If Dialysis is too expensive for you, what do you switch to?

If psychiatric drugs (for bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia) are too expensive for you, you lose the ability to be part of society.

Totally unlike food, despite being non-emergency.

The moment you have patents on drugs (which you do), and a $400M cost-of-bringing-to-market independent of the resarch (which you do), it's not a free market. Totally unlike food.

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dantheman 4504 days ago
The point is market forces can apply most arguments against nonsocialized health care focus on the emergency aspect.
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