Evil Obamacare

[Vrede too]

Company Acquires Rights To Drug Used By AIDS/Cancer Patients; Immediately Raises Per Pill Price From Under $14 To $750
from the because-fuck-you,-that's-why dept

Update 23 September: Under pressure, Shkreli said yesterday he'll roll back "some" of the price increase -- but won't say how much, or commit to return it to the original price. That's just not good enough. Let's demand a full price reversal.

Sign the petition to Martin Shkreli, CEO Turing Pharmaceuticals

"Fully reverse the unjustifiable cost hike to Daraprim now."

[rstrong]

Update 23 September: Under pressure, Shkreli said yesterday he'll roll back "some" of the price increase -- but won't say how much, or commit to return it to the original price.

*Of course* he'll drop the price.... eventually. The drug is no longer under patent, but since it was cheap (even $14 was a major price raise), the generic drug manufacturers weren't producing it.

At the ridiculously inflated price they will, but it will take a while.

The hedge fund scumbag bought it because he saw a temporary monopoly on something people's lives depended on. Once there's competition and the price drops, he'll no doubt find some way to get a major tax break from that drop in value.

[Wneglia]

Single Payor, Anyone?

Sanders 2016. Let's bankrupt the whole nation, not just Vermont.

[Vrede too]

Yes, with a better plan.

... Health care specialists said Vermont always faced a daunting challenge. Switching from the current system — a hybrid of private insurance and government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare — was inherently complicated, contentious, and costly.

In Europe, many countries built their universal health care systems from scratch, with some starting early last century when most citizens had no medical coverage and any services provided by governments were welcome, the Brooking Institution’s Aaron said. That allowed those countries to slowly build and expand health care systems over decades.

But in the United States private insurance arrangements between employees and employers have expanded and matured over the decades, with many people with insurance expecting a high level of medical service. So, switching to a single-payer system would need to meet those higher expectations — and higher costs — all at once, Aaron said....

Note that "high level of" health isn't the phrase. We know that we can get comparable outcomes for 1/2 to 2/3 the total cost, and that the potential costs to VT state government have to be weighed not just against current costs but also against the costs to society of maintaining the status quo.

[rstrong]

Single Payor, Anyone?

Sanders 2016. Let's bankrupt the whole nation, not just Vermont.

Just to be clear, the big cost isn't the single payer system. It's in doing a sudden, rapid switch-over.

Even the ACA is gradually phased in.

[rstrong]

In Europe, many countries built their universal health care systems from scratch, with some starting early last century when most citizens had no medical coverage and any services provided by governments were welcome, the Brooking Institution’s Aaron said. That allowed those countries to slowly build and expand health care systems over decades.

But in the United States private insurance arrangements between employees and employers have expanded and matured over the decades, with many people with insurance expecting a high level of medical service. So, switching to a single-payer system would need to meet those higher expectations — and higher costs — all at once, Aaron said....

So go with the Canadian system. Socialized *insurance* for mostly private healthcare. With plenty of room for private insurance, including much the same arrangements between employees and employers - just at lower cost thanks to what the public insurance system covers.

[O Really]

It's not like they'd have to change everything to a radically different system. Let the insurance companies continue to run claims processing. They have to offer a good but basic plan to everybody at a set price, and that plan is paid for out of federal and state funds. Insurance companies could offer upgrades, with the difference in basic and upgrade paid for by the individual (or employers if they wanted to continue to play). Everybody gets coverage. Insurance companies stay in business. Pay more and get more. It's not rocket surgery.

[JTA]

It's not like they'd have to change everything to a radically different system. Let the insurance companies continue to run claims processing. They have to offer a good but basic plan to everybody at a set price, and that plan is paid for out of federal and state funds. Insurance companies could offer upgrades, with the difference in basic and upgrade paid for by the individual (or employers if they wanted to continue to play). Everybody gets coverage. Insurance companies stay in business. Pay more and get more. It's not rocket surgery.

$328 a month for a mid tier "silver" insurance plan accordingly to the internet. That's pretty hefty. Wouldn't we just be better off if everyone paid a tax for a single payer system, and wouldn't the tax be less than what most lay for insurance premiums + deductibles anyway?

[Boatrocker]

It's not like they'd have to change everything to a radically different system. Let the insurance companies continue to run claims processing. They have to offer a good but basic plan to everybody at a set price, and that plan is paid for out of federal and state funds. Insurance companies could offer upgrades, with the difference in basic and upgrade paid for by the individual (or employers if they wanted to continue to play). Everybody gets coverage. Insurance companies stay in business. Pay more and get more. It's not rocket surgery.

$328 a month for a mid tier "silver" insurance plan accordingly to the internet. That's pretty hefty. Wouldn't we just be better off if everyone paid a tax for a single payer system, and wouldn't the tax be less than what most lay for insurance premiums + deductibles anyway?

I have had that same conversation with so many of my coworkers and rural, evangelical tea-in-laws. The usual line is something like:
"I'm already paying $500 a month just for me and Clarabell! Now them goddam libruls wanna raise my taxes to pay fer all them messicans and niggers that ain't payin no taxes to begin with?"
"Um, even if your taxes went up, say $250 a month to fund single-payer national healthcare- and it won't go up that much, for Christ's sake- you have to remember that YOU WON'T BE PAYING THE $500 A MONTH PREMIUM FOR PRIVATE INSURANCE THROUGH YOUR EMPLOYER!!! Even at such a ridiculous tax increase, you would still get an effective $250 a month raise!"
<crickets> . . . "Don't take Christ's name in vain in my house!"

It's much like the conversation about how forcing McDonald's to pay $15 an hour minimum wage to their employees would mean the price of a Big Mac goes up to $8 apiece. Teabagges can't do even basic math. And my sister-in-law is an accountant for a large food distributor- actually now a regional purchasing manager with an accounting degree.

[O Really]

It's not like they'd have to change everything to a radically different system. Let the insurance companies continue to run claims processing. They have to offer a good but basic plan to everybody at a set price, and that plan is paid for out of federal and state funds. Insurance companies could offer upgrades, with the difference in basic and upgrade paid for by the individual (or employers if they wanted to continue to play). Everybody gets coverage. Insurance companies stay in business. Pay more and get more. It's not rocket surgery.

$328 a month for a mid tier "silver" insurance plan accordingly to the internet. That's pretty hefty. Wouldn't we just be better off if everyone paid a tax for a single payer system, and wouldn't the tax be less than what most lay for insurance premiums + deductibles anyway?

I'd prefer that. But to address rstrong's point about excess cost of doing everything at once, there are plausible phase-in options.

[Wneglia]

It's not like they'd have to change everything to a radically different system. Let the insurance companies continue to run claims processing. They have to offer a good but basic plan to everybody at a set price, and that plan is paid for out of federal and state funds. Insurance companies could offer upgrades, with the difference in basic and upgrade paid for by the individual (or employers if they wanted to continue to play). Everybody gets coverage. Insurance companies stay in business. Pay more and get more. It's not rocket surgery.

$328 a month for a mid tier "silver" insurance plan accordingly to the internet. That's pretty hefty. Wouldn't we just be better off if everyone paid a tax for a single payer system, and wouldn't the tax be less than what most lay for insurance premiums + deductibles anyway?

Hefty? My wife's Obamacare policy for a mid tier silver costs over $1100/month. Fortunately after next year she can get Medicare.

[O Really]

It's not like they'd have to change everything to a radically different system. Let the insurance companies continue to run claims processing. They have to offer a good but basic plan to everybody at a set price, and that plan is paid for out of federal and state funds. Insurance companies could offer upgrades, with the difference in basic and upgrade paid for by the individual (or employers if they wanted to continue to play). Everybody gets coverage. Insurance companies stay in business. Pay more and get more. It's not rocket surgery.

$328 a month for a mid tier "silver" insurance plan accordingly to the internet. That's pretty hefty. Wouldn't we just be better off if everyone paid a tax for a single payer system, and wouldn't the tax be less than what most lay for insurance premiums + deductibles anyway?

Hefty? My wife's Obamacare policy for a mid tier silver costs over $1100/month. Fortunately after next year she can get Medicare.

Outrageous. But it must have been less expensive than COBRAing off your former group policy? Nevertheless, instead of comparing to what might be "reasonable" you have to compare to what else is currently available. Individual policies have always been ridiculously and excessively expensive, and pre-Obamacare plans would have been at least as bad.

[JTA]

It's not like they'd have to change everything to a radically different system. Let the insurance companies continue to run claims processing. They have to offer a good but basic plan to everybody at a set price, and that plan is paid for out of federal and state funds. Insurance companies could offer upgrades, with the difference in basic and upgrade paid for by the individual (or employers if they wanted to continue to play). Everybody gets coverage. Insurance companies stay in business. Pay more and get more. It's not rocket surgery.

$328 a month for a mid tier "silver" insurance plan accordingly to the internet. That's pretty hefty. Wouldn't we just be better off if everyone paid a tax for a single payer system, and wouldn't the tax be less than what most lay for insurance premiums + deductibles anyway?

Hefty? My wife's Obamacare policy for a mid tier silver costs over $1100/month. Fortunately after next year she can get Medicare.

That's insane!! What exactly do those plans offer. Is the deductible really high too?

[rstrong]

I just checked my pay stub. I'm paying $53.66 per month for group insurance.

(Yes, I also pay into the public system though taxes. But Canadians still pay less *taxes* per capita for healthcare than Americans.)

[JTA]

I just checked my pay stub. I'm paying $53.66 per month for group insurance.

(Yes, I also pay into the public system though taxes. But Canadians still pay less *taxes* per capita for healthcare than Americans.)

That's about what I pay per month for mine... Well about 60 a month. It's not the top dog insurance plan but one notch down, its still decent.

Still it sucks having healthcare tied to employment. I feel I'd be much more likely to venture out on my own and try to start a business of my own if it weren't for that reason.

[O Really]

Still it sucks having healthcare tied to employment. I feel I'd be much more likely to venture out on my own and try to start a business of my own if it weren't for that reason.

It's a somewhat antiquated system, at least in part because the original reason employers started offering medical insurance as a benefit was to encourage employees to stay. Now they generally don't care if employees stay or not, and some actually prefer not. The other reason employers started that was as a way to add to compensation and get a tax benefit too. Overall, it worked pretty well for a while. Not so much any more though.

[Vrede too]

$328 a month for a mid tier "silver" insurance plan accordingly to the internet. That's pretty hefty. Wouldn't we just be better off if everyone paid a tax for a single payer system, and wouldn't the tax be less than what most lay for insurance premiums + deductibles anyway?

Maybe, maybe not, but we have to factor in all the costs we pay in other ways for an uninsured and under insured population.

[JTA]

South Carolina Senate panel approves medical marijuana proposal

However, S.C. Law Enforcement Division chief Mark Keel told senators he opposes the proposal...

The proposal would allow medical marijuana to be used to treat a variety of conditions, including cancer, glaucoma, AIDS and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Keel said the proposed seed-to-sale tracking program does not take into account what happens to marijuana once it is sold to a patient. In addition, availability drives marijuana use, he said. In states that have legalized medical marijuana, more adolescents use the drug than in states that have not, he said.

State Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the only thing currently limiting how much marijuana high school students can buy is their pocketbook.

Davis said prescription drugs currently are abused. “Any system that we come up with is going to be abused.”

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-g ... rylink=cpy


http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-g ... 84198.html

Yeah this totally isn't going to pass. It only takes one marijuana to turn a child into a gay Satan worshiping crack smoking heroin addict.

[Vrede too]

Petition to Congress:

"Immediately pass the Prescription Drug Affordability Act of 2015, which would let Medicare bargain for lower prices on drugs, increase price transparency, and crack down on vultures who prey on the sick by hiking the prices of life-saving medication."

[rstrong]

CBC: Turing Pharma CEO Martin Shkreli arrested, reports say

Pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, vilified for buying up drug companies and then dramatically boosting the prices of some medications, was arrested Thursday by the FBI on securities fraud charges related to his former hedge fund and a drug company he once ran, according to reports.

Not the lynch mob he deserves, but a good start.