Drug prices will be equilibrated if this bill passes

[troysvihl]

I just found out about a bill working it's way through congress that I'm pretty excited about. It has the potential for decimating the national health care systems that the majority of the industiralised world has forced onto their citizens. The reason that most of these socialized systems have even been able to stay solvent is due to the fact they have implemented rigid price controls. (they think they can suspend the laws of economics)

For those of you that may not be aware of the current situation with drug prices in other countries they are often cheaper than in the US. This almost always due to the price controls. Well as anyone that has a remedial knowledge of economics knows, price controls = shortages. But in this case, the drug companies don't limit their supply of drugs, thereby causing shortages; instead they just raise prices of drugs in the US. So the US consumer has to foot a pretty good chunk of the price of supplying drugs to the socialized medical systems.

Well, the gravy train is about to end. There is a bill in Congress that will legalize wholesellers that can go overseas to buy drugs and resell them in the US. (I have no idea why this was outlawed in the first place; probably shortsighted politicians that crave more restrictions on personal freedom.) This will have the effect of equalizing drug prices throughout the world, by increasing the price of the drugs to their true market price in other countries and decrease the price in the US.

So if the other countries continue to try to force price controls on the drug companies, the drug companies will simply stop selling that drug in that country. So now, those countries are going to have to suck it up and start paying the complete cost of their idiotic socialistic medical systems instead of passing part of the buck onto Americans. Either that, or they will have to put up with the laws of economics and live with drug shortages.

[Edited by troysvihl on 11-27-2000 at 05:28 PM]

[w1che]

Sounds good to me let's just hope it passes.

[SARGE]

Onliest thing I know is, a month ago I had a prescription filled - worked out to $10 a pill. That stinks.

[troysvihl]

the novel thing about this bill is that it will address a problem by eliminating restrictions instead of producing them