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Jewish World Review Oct. 6, 2000/ 7 Tishrei, 5761
Marianne M. Jennings
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
TOCQUEVILLE wrote that the American Republic would endure until lawmakers
were able to bribe citizens with their own money. Both George W. and Al Gore
are in full swing with prescription drug bribes for seniors. Once Al Gore
could tie his dog, Shiloh, and his mother-in-law, into one gripping story,
i.e., both have budget-crippling arthritis prescriptions; help was only a
campaign away. Speaking with the moral authority of someone whose co-pay on
prescriptions runs $300 per month, I beseech America: Don't take this bribe!
There are three reasons prescription drugs set us back a pretty penny.
Reason one is that research and development for pharmaceuticals are huge sunk
costs. For every 5,000 tries in the lab, one compound makes it to clinical
trials. With the FDA controlling every step and PETA flailing about over
animal testing, the process takes between 12 and 15 years. The average cost
per drug, from start-to-finish, is $500 million.
At the tail end of the process is a crowd of attorneys, armed with class
action suits, waiting for one good reaction from the drug in the general
population. A little litigation and it's goodbye profits and sunk costs and
hello, Chapter 11 bankruptcy. New drugs recoup these costs in addition to
their R & D.
Reason two is international cross-subsidization. Clozapine, for example,
costs $51.34 in Spain, $89.55 in Germany, $271.08 in Canada, and $317.03 in
the U.S. The other countries listed here have price controls. If drug
companies withheld the drugs, there the hue and cry would be justifiably
vicious. So, we pay more for the rest of the world's access. We offer not
just the finest pharmaceuticals; we sell on credit and pay the loan
ourselves. The nations with price controls and socialized medicine have,
like all good comrades, demanded egalitarianism and handed others the tab.
When Kyoto treaty equity discussions abound, this bonanza should be fodder
for our smokestackless friends.
Reason three is that HMOs, federal agencies and other networks of businesses
band together for group discounts on drugs. Those paying hefty chunks of
their budgets for prescriptions are not in these pools and retail prices are
killers.
The Feds can't afford coverage for all seniors, who buy one-third of all
prescriptions sold here ($250 billion). How will the Feds decide whom to
cover? What of the two-thirds of Medicare recipients who already have
prescription drug coverage? A full-blown government program will discourage
such self-reliance. When seniors flock for freebies, the Feds will draw
lines in their usual fashion: with a plethora of regulations enforced by
folks who have the flexibility of plywood. You place your prescriptions in
the hands of the same folks who mandated Braille on drive-through tellers
under the Americans with Disability Act.
When screening applicants proves insufficient for narrowing the eligibles,
more regulations will limit drugs. Enter more government employees for these
decisions. If you think your HMO is arbitrary and capricious, wait until 100
million yuppies, afflicted with retirement age and arthritis, are vying for
the same pool of prescription money. Baby boomers in their Lincoln
Navigators and Cole-Haan loafers will bring road rage to the parking lots of
social security offices as every man, woman, and beast clamors for free
prescription drugs. Hell hath no fury like a freeloader yuppie with lumbago.
When the regs and floodgates don't work, enter price controls. Exit
innovation
What is it about this era that finds even Republicans touting government
solutions? This state intervention is irritating in its presumption that
families are not responsible for each other, including medical expenses. The
government is now the first, last and only resort for unexpected costs.
Self-reliance and family support are dismissed for second homes and dinners
out (about $2,200 per year spent by folks 65 and older).
Even without family support, there are non-government solutions. Band
together those with prescription burdens to get them the same discounts the
health plans and federal workers enjoy. Or, encourage them to take advantage
of the generosity of the drug companies that gave away 2.8 million
prescriptions, or $500 million, to the financially strapped last year.
Interestingly, the drug companies don't look at assets, as the Feds do, in
determining eligibility. They look only at income after medical expenses.
In other words, these price-gouging companies have compassion and
understanding - No bureaucRAT ever had such simplicity. Find the free drug
programs at www.phrma.org Still another solution is vouchers for supplemental
prescription coverage. Vouchers don't fiddle with the market but do give
purchasing power.
Bribery sounds terrific when you're facing $300 a month for prescriptions
on income of $1,000. But, bribery benefits the few at the expense of many.
Bribes, even in the form of free prescriptions, are a temporary fix, a rush
of cash as a facile solution. Bribes for bids from a contractor or
government funds pledged for votes by a shameless politician are the same.
They corrupt the system. You could end up on Shiloh's
09/29/00: The capacity for truth
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