Health Care in the US...

long tall smiley said:
Obviously you cannot fight human greed. It would be futile and wasteful to try. So, instead, you need to design a system that cannot be taken advantage of.


Did you realize what a brand name does to costs? Here's an example:

Prozac is the brand name.

It costs $295.56 for a company to purchase it to distribute it. Most companies will sell it to you for $362.32 or more.

Fluoxetine is the same thing but a generic brand.

It costs $5.55 for a company to purchase it to distribute it. Most companies will sell it to you for $41.62 or more.
 
Coqui said:
Did you realize what a brand name does to costs? Here's an example:

Prozac is the brand name.

It costs $295.56 for a company to purchase it to distribute it. Most companies will sell it to you for $362.32 or more.

Fluoxetine is the same thing but a generic brand.

It costs $5.55 for a company to purchse is to distribute it. Most companies will sell it to you for $41.62 or more.
In their defense, the 'brand name' company DID do the R&D and go through the years of testing hell to get the FDA approval for the drug.

Granted, they're still raping people but not as badly as they're led to believe.
 
ChikkenNoodul said:
In their defense, the 'brand name' company DID do the R&D and go through the years of testing hell to get the FDA approval for the drug.

Granted, they're still raping people but not as badly as they're led to believe.


True. But once they recoup their costs, they should lower the prices. Just my opinion.
 
ChikkenNoodul said:
A godawful amount, and yet they still make money.

It's a win-win for the government and the companies really, they have no intention of actually getting rid of smokers - too much tax revenue is generated that way.
Would eliminating the smokers reduce health care costs enough to offset the decrease in tax income though?
 
ChikkenNoodul said:
Of course, but it could take a long time to recoup the costs.

Doesn't Toyota or Honda still lose money on the hybrids? I thought I read that somewhere....


But they don't up the cost over 200% now do they?
 
Coqui said:
But they don't up the cost over 200% now do they?
Until I see a balance sheet that shows how much they put into R&D and how long it takes them to recoup those costs, I'll hold my judgement on them.

I heard on the radio the other day that 2/3rds of all the money spent on healthcare is spent in the last year of a person's life.
 
long tall smiley said:
higher taxes + longer waits = no thank you.


our taxes arn't that much higher and the waits arn't that big a deal. If you want an MRI to find out why your sinus cold won't go away, you can go to a private clinic.
 
crazymike said:
our taxes arn't that much higher and the waits arn't that big a deal. If you want an MRI to find out why your sinus cold won't go away, you can go to a private clinic.
waiting months for simple surgery isn't that bad? Preventitive health care isn't necessary?
 
long tall smiley said:
waiting months for simple surgery isn't that bad? Preventitive health care isn't necessary?


I've never had problems with our healthcare. The waits arn't as long as you think. But nobody ever complains about something that works good, so you don't hear about it. But everytime someone has a problem, people kick up a storm. So the few people that do have problems make a huge deal about it.

Our healthcare system is far from perfect, but it's still top notch.
 
and as far as wanting next day service, you can pay for it.

The % of our money that goes towards healthcare is minimal. The main reason our taxes are so high is because we have a fraction of the people and twice the area to cover with roads, etc...
 
crazymike said:
and as far as wanting next day service, you can pay for it.

The % of our money that goes towards healthcare is minimal. The main reason our taxes are so high is because we have a fraction of the people and twice the area to cover with roads, etc...
I think its because you are a semi socialist country.
 
long tall smiley said:
I think its because you are a semi socialist country.


could be so.

Canada is a great place to live. I've lived in the US, England and Ireland and I always end up back in Canada. It's not for everyone, but we really have no disadvantage to any Americans. We have the same rights and freedoms and standards of living. And although our taxes our higher, our cost of living is cheaper.