While it is definitely true that these companies spend a great deal of money on research and development, for which they certainly deserve and in fact need to be compensated (not to mention their right to make a profit, and the fact that profit potential is a major driver in innovation), the amount of profit and compensation that comes solely from the United States is inordinate when compared to that provided by other countries. Nearly half of all revenue going to pharmaceutical companies every year comes from United States' consumers (Sawkar, 2005). The argument that drug reimportation would damage companies' innovation and profit potentials implies that it is the United States' sole responsibility to provide funds for these goals; if reimportation were allowed then prices would even out, meaning other countries would start paying a fair share towards research and development costs while the United States would experience a savings. The arguments against drug reimportation, then, are rather weak. The arguments for it, on the other hand, are quite compelling -- rising prescription costs are a major problem for many senior...
This isn't simply a problem with holes in Medicare/Medicaid coverage, as this simply shifts the burden to the U.S. government and ultimately to tax payers, so filling these holes would not ultimately change anything for the country overall; competition through reimportation is a better solution (Wu et al., 2009).
This relationship has an effect on the payment rates that CMS sets. Higher cost pharmaceutical therapies are systematically reimbursed below acquisition cost (i.e., the payment system is biased against full reimbursement for higher cost therapies). Reimbursement compared to acquisition cost for the top IO pharmaceuticals by total expenditures indicates that 9 of the 10 are significantly under reimbursed." Clinical Trials Report: Congress established Medicare beneficiaries numbering 40 million with a prescription
Healthcare Making Prescription Drugs Affordable? Parallel Trade and the Pharmaceutical Industry The skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs remains one of the most contentious issues in America. In this presidential election year, especially, politicians are continually debating ways to make life-saving drugs more affordable. Alone in the world, the United States prohibits the free importation of prescription medications from abroad. Yet, as is so often pointed out by those in favor of changing the
Pharmaceutical Gray Market on Operations and Strategies The safety, security and prices of pharmaceuticals in the United States represent a fundamental national security interest. When essential drugs are unavailable or priced too high, the public's health is threatened and this is what is happening because of the pharmaceutical gray market. This paper reviews the relevant literature to determine how the pharmaceutical "gray market" affects the operations of pharmaceutical companies operating
Health Care Economics Heath care economics The health care sector in the United States is faced with a series of challenges given by the dynamic and changing features of the modern day society. Two notable challenges in this sense are represented by moral hazard and demand inducement. These are best explained below: "First, because of the nature of insurance at that time patients demanded all medical services regardless of cost, even those
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now