Some seniors order drugs from abroad to save money. A few states are even considering mail-ordering cheaper drugs from Canada for state employees. Every employer cannot order drugs from Canada, however. There are just not enough drugs in Canada to serve their own population along with 100 million Americans with employee health coverage.
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
Wednesday Links
- Study: Bans on flavored tobacco products don’t work.
- Are women taking over our health care system?
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There are 4.2 million nurses, over 1 million doctors, and over 1/2 million PAs and NPs in the US…. Women hold … 90% of all nursing positions, 66% of PAs, and 55% of all current Medical School slots.
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- NBER study: As hospital prices went up 1%, the percentage of people who ended up out of a job rose by 0.4% and payments for tax-funded unemployment insurance increased 2.5%.
- The total expense [of developing a new drug] is estimated at $1 billion on average. It takes 10 to 15 years. And nearly 90 percent of the candidate drugs that enter human clinical trials fail.
- Colorado wants to import drugs from Canada. Pharma is opposed.
NYT: Your Vet is Going High-Tech, and Expensive
Our dog Clementine is part of the family. (That’s her helping read her lab report. She’s a Golden Doodle rescue that spent her first year in Lake Tahoe before moving to Texas. She’s not a cheap date. She has three different veterinarians. She has a veterinary behaviorist for her mental health (she’s an odd dog). She also has a regular veterinarian for routine health needs, and we use a cheaper veterinary clinic housed in a Walmart for lab work and vaccinations. If we sound like overindulgent pet owners, we’re not alone according to the New York Times.
Patients Worry about Seeing Their Doctor, Want More Information During Visit
Americans’ anxiety about seeing their physicians is partly related to our health care system’s utter indifference to transparency caused by a lack of competition. The shortage of primary care physicians certainly doesn’t help. When your primary care physician’s schedule is fully booked you have few other options if you are not getting the information you need to manage your health. I have found that being clear and honest about being price sensitive helps.