06-28-2009, 01:48 PM
Quote:I don't think all the cost can be associated with the insurance system... Drugs are a very large slice of the total healthcare cost pie, and prescriptions cost more in the US than anywhere else, likely due to the strictest regulations of anywhere else. Nobody ever goes back and removes red tape that isn't needed anymore, and the US has regulated themselves into a corner in the event of a recession. It's not just a healthcare thing with that, it's EPA / CARB regulations, other permitting and enviromental impact processes, etc...I suppose that's an important part of the question. Is it the case that the US is picking up the slack for other countries' drug subsidies? Shouldering the burdens of R and D, and then passing on those costs to the US consumer? Or are they given market power by government regulation, which they then use to soak the market for all they can get?
Whatever it is, you're certainly right that drug costs are a very large portion of the problem. I wish I understood that element of things better. I suspect you're right, that the regulatory environment is a major problem, although I think the larger issue is some kind of agency problem between drug companies, insurers, and the government, which is somehow frustrating the market pricing mechanism for drugs. But it would take someone who knows a lot more than I do to sort out that mess and find out exactly what is ratcheting up costs so high.
-Jester