Many people equate peptides to snake oil, while others are quick to remind that numerous FDA approved drugs are peptides. Glucagon, the active ingredient in GLP-1 drugs occurs naturally in the body but has a short half-life. Scientists figured out a way to make the half-life last roughly one week rather than mere minutes. Telemedicine startups are trying to cash in on the peptide craze, as are many doctors. Much of the information about peptides comes from peptide sellers and longevity doctors on YouTube.
Author: Devon Herrick
Republican Lawmakers to Test Price Control on Indiana Hospitals
Here is the problem with price controls: nobody really knows what the market rate would be in a competitive market. Set the price cap too low and it can result in providers leaving the market (i.e., shortages of care). Set it too high and it can result in overpaying for care. I suspect that 250% of Medicare will become the de facto price for all services regardless of what was being charged before the law. There is also the risk that health insurance premiums will continue to rise and any potential savings from capping hospital rates will be captured by insurers.
Skin Substitutes Are Another Example of Medicare Fraud
Medicare is plagued by waste, fraud, and abuse. I have written about questionable spending numerous times in the past. From unnecessary orthopedic leg braces, to unneeded urinary catheters, to Medicare hospice where patients routinely outlive the six months period they’re only supposed to survive, even to healthy patients unknowingly entered into hospice which is then billed to Medicare. Medicare beneficiaries sometimes discover they were fraudulently enrolled in hospice when they are turned down for therapeutic care.
Some Patients Travel Abroad for Cheaper Drug Prices
Consider the drug, Trikafta, for cystic fibrosis. It’s a specialty drug that costs nearly $14,000 for a prescription, or about $346,000 a year. The patent(s) are not expected to expire for another 11.5 years. Of course, very few cystic fibrosis patients can afford that, but they’re not expected to. Their health insurers or employee health plans are supposed to pony up $350k a year on their behalf. To some degree you can thank Obamacare for hyper expensive drugs. By banning annual caps and lifetime caps on benefits (and mandating drug coverage) the Affordable Care Act created a market for completely unaffordable drugs.