Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony
prescription costs are a big percentage of medical dollars.
In 2002, for Medicaid, it was about 16%
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...g=content;col1
Pharma is doing what any company would do, bargain with the government for their piece of the pie, at the expense of other players and the general public. Was always like that in the past, and will always be like that. |
According to CMS (agency of US government), roughly $250 billion was spent on drugs (branded and generic) in the US last year. That pales in comparison to the almost $1.3 trillion that was spent on hospital and physician services.
While PhRMA cut a deal with Obama, the AMA and physicians aren't rolling over either when it comes to health reform (e.g., lobbying heavily against proposed 21% decrease in physician reimbursement under Medicare scheduled to go into effect next month; it will cost upwards of $200 billion if the decrease in reimbursement isn't enacted). All parties are trying to cover their arses.
