Obama on Drugs: 98% Cheney?

[cbhope1030]

Eighty billion dollars of WHAT?

I searched all over the newspapers and TV transcripts and no one asked the President what is probably the most important question of what passes for debate on the issue of health care reform: $80 billion of WHAT?

On June 22, President Obama said he'd reached agreement with big drug companies to cut the price of medicine by $80 billion. He extended his gratitude to Big Pharma for the deal that would, "reduce the punishing inflation in health care costs."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-palast/obama-on-drugs-98-cheney_b_258209.html

[CANDYKISSES]

Oh come on now CB, don't you know it's just not right to ask questions or to be disruptive? :wink: I'm just waiting for the contents of that dealorama by Obama to drop.

(But what really puzzles me is that little AARP debacle and why it was presumed they were on board with the plan to start with?):confused:
JMO

[Great Dane]

The thing with generic meds is, they aren't the top of the line, the most effective....if I or someone in my family has cancer, I don't want the generic version, I want the newest meds....

Some generic meds are the equivalent of the name brand, others clearly ARE NOT....

[desmom]

The thing with generic meds is, they aren't the top of the line, the most effective....if I or someone in my family has cancer, I don't want the generic version, I want the newest meds....

Some generic meds are the equivalent of the name brand, others clearly ARE NOT....

I agree Great Dane. My daughter does not do well on some generics. Her serum levels spike and then plummet. Not a good thing for seizure control.

I would like to see the ads in all media for new medications stopped. My 85 year old neighbor takes those ads out of her magazines so she can ask her doctor if it is a drug for her. Yep she even took in the Viagra ad.

I also feel doctors are too quick to prescribed the latest, greatest high dollar meds. Most times, a tried and true drug that is much cheaper, will do the job.

jmo

Oops ETA - Sorry I got a little o/t.

[Great Dane]

When they create a "new" drug, they are able to charge a high rate for the first three years, to regain the money they spent creating this drug....but, that has a double edged sword....while they benefit financially from advancing their knowl., they are also not going to replace that drug, with a newer more improved drug...until the three years has ran out...(unless the competition can do it first)....not to mention, most insurance comapnies will not approve the new drug...and often times when they do, it is EXPENSIVE....

[Great Dane]

So we accept a broken plan because our options are limited????

That is like marrying someone you don't love, so you can say you have a husband....

:thumbdown:

[Mimi428]

Not the way a drug works, but who the plan is geared towards....

OK, understood.

I think there will always be exceptions, but on the whole, pretty much everyone in my family has done well with the generics. The one exception is Vytorin, which is not on the formularies as one of the cheaper options - it is pretty much always at the top tier, if it is covered at all. The physician who is convinced that Vytorin has proven to be a superior option over a generic statin has always provided a month's supply of samples for free, so it really hasn't been an issue to have to pay for it (& it is horribly expensive, like Lipitor).

Personally, I think it is more than worthwhile to try the cheap generic first. If it does not provide the proper benefit, THEN switch.

JMO

[Mimi428]

One of my prescriptions after my heart attack was Lipitor and it was working just fine. Well, I went to have it refilled one day and found out my private insurer lo longer covered it. They wanted to go with a generic. So I can't understand what is meant when someone is worried about the government making decisions instead of doctors. It happens now to protect the bottom line. :confused:

You are absolutely correct - unless a person has enough cash to just walk in & pay for every little thing their (& their doctor's) heart desires, somebody else, somewhere else, is going to make decisions for that person. I have more confidence that a government decision would have first had input from physicians & study data.

So if the individual is worried about somebody else, somewhere else making decisions that will determine what care they can receive, what drugs they can receive - there is just as much to worry about from private insurance companies.

JMO

[Barbara2]

Did you try the generic? Did it work? If not, did your MD contact the insurance company and get a formulary exception? Usually, in private health care there is a protocol to go through and if no other medication can provide the necessary effect, the MD can work with the insurance company to get a formulary exception for the more expensive medicine. I know for a fact because that happened to me. Is it a hassle to go through the trials of the other meds? Sure it is, but it was worth it to me to not have to pay for the name brand meds that the insurer didn't approve.

Of course it's a bottom line situation. If it weren't what would be the point of going to work every day? We go to work to earn money, work to make more money and work to make our expenses as small as possible to maximize our savings? Right? Why shouldn't a company follow the same pattern?

You think the government is going to give everyone top of the line treatment and meds without red tape and bureacratic hoops? If you do, I have a bridge I can sell you in NY.

I was under government care for all my life growing up. I can't say that the care was bad but it was completely funded by the taxpayers. (My dad was career Air Force.) So we didn't get denied. All the doctors and nurses were military personnel. We certainly did not get the attention as children that my own children received having a known doctor that saw them growing up. We saw whoever was on duty. I also learned the "hurry up and wait" phrase at a very early age. You had to be in the waiting room and signed in by your appointment time. If you were late, you lost your appointment. It didn't matter if YOU had to wait for an hour before they called you back. You still had to be there and signed in by the time of your appointment. Whenever you get something for nothing (or less), you get what you pay for. IMO

ETA: I meant less than what you are currently paying. I didn't mean that you could pay less than nothing. (I re-read that and it just didn't read well.)