Patients pay more for medicine than monthly income in new pricing system: Are insurance companies greedy and immoral?

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Patients pay more for medicine than monthly income in new pricing system: Are insurance companies greedy and immoral?

by Chr*stopher Posted April 14, 2008 18:46:20

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+22 raves

Under a new pricing system, insurers abandoned the arrangement that had patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter the drug's actual cost. Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of high-priced drugs, usually 20 to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month. Hundreds of drugs are now priced this way, including medicines to treat multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, hepatitis C and some cancers. There are no cheaper equivalents for these drugs, so patients are forced to pay the price or do without. In some cases, patients may have to spend more for a drug than they pay for their mortgages, or their monthly incomes.

Insurers like Kaiser Permanente claim the new system, called Tier 4, keeps premiums down at a time when treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis can cost $100,000 and more a year.

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+10 MT Chris April 14, 2008 19:05:58 (edited)

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
I wonder how much worse it will have to get before people demand more government regulation. Another example of why an unregulated free market just isn't going to work for many people.

But I guess to most of us, paying $1000 to a company is much better than paying an addition $5 in taxes to the government, whether we're talking road maintenance, health coverage, education, regulating mortgage practices, ad infinitum.
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nightm4... to Chartre... April 17, 2008 12:47:35

Yeah probably.He would make a good pillow tho lol
+5
NarcolepticGoat April 14, 2008 23:43:57

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
They might as well be paying for assisted suicide. Thats pretty much what they are doing anyway.
+2
Eric April 14, 2008 23:42:03

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
oh this one could really get me going
+4
Nowonmai April 14, 2008 23:24:13

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
If politicians, after their retirement (some at a young age) didn't have their fat gov't pensions, that get increased with the cost of living, and weren't covered by the US taxpayers for all their medical care, I think this crap about having to pay for medical insurance would come to a screeching halt. And before people start going on about socialism: Schools, police department, Military, Libraries, Fire Department, are all socialised programs and they do quite well, yes? (Or did until the gov't cut back fundings to line pockets of people like Black Water and Halliburton)
So Wrong It's Phoebe! April 14, 2008 22:51:34

Answered: I'm undecided.
I dunno, I don't really have a good opinion on this since I'm not on a ton of meds =/
Bill - Buffalo Soldier April 14, 2008 22:42:02

Answered: I'm undecided.
See Trilogic and Jackie G - I kinda think it is us with our demands for a pill for every thing and I am not sure it is the insurance companies or the drug companies. Complex issue but I do know that any time the government gets into something it turns out to be a bigger mess - not much that they do seems to work. I just paid my income tax so government is not high on my list of positives right now.
+3
migsyc April 14, 2008 22:36:42

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
This will affect our elderly population the most. Does that seem fair? Most of them due without everyday necessities just to be able to afford their prescripitons. I think it is past due for healthcare reform. I work with people who can not retire because they could not afford to pay their own healthcare premiums.
+4
Distorted April 14, 2008 22:18:34

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
pharmaceutical companies are greedy... medications are way cheaper just across the border in Canada because of regulations!
+5
Elaine April 14, 2008 21:42:57 (edited)

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Insurance, to me, is a f*** joke anymore..there are hardly ANY good plans out there.. the deductables are ridiculous, I work with verifying insurance for pt with diabetes, and hardly anyone has a really great policy, like they used to be for people..no they suck now a days!!!!
+2
Charlie~NBA April 14, 2008 21:32:21 (edited)

Answered: I'm undecided.
I believe it to be a combination of yes and no, with the medical companies like Pfizer and Abbott helping the insurance companies by not finding common cures to Diabetics for one.

They keep minimal expiration dates on products so that the patients needs are additive.
+3
lou lou April 14, 2008 21:29:24

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
i toured an island called star island. The residents were of the rich and famous. Of the residents were Shaq, Julio Inglesias, Rosie Odonell, and Gloria Estephan, just to name a few. Of these houses the most expensive was from a mn who owned a generic pharmacuedical comapany. The house was tacky. It was so overdone with a staircase with water cascading down them. My guess is that he makes a killing.
+2
thunderbean April 14, 2008 20:52:35

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Of the rich, by the rich, for the rich, everyone else bend over
+3
PLANETEATER April 14, 2008 20:40:57

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Have you seen Sicko?
+1
Jackie G - Poker Playing Pa... April 14, 2008 20:36:59

Answered: I'm undecided.
I don't know if it is the insurance companies or the pharmaceutical houses and I don't know what the cost vs profit margins are. I do know that cancer drugs are hugely expensive for everyone. Need more research before I go on the warpath.
+3
concerned April 14, 2008 20:27:49 (edited)

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
it's been like that for a long time but I still don't like hillary plan I would rather have obama's plan it lowers price ans still keeps us with good medical attention I don't want to be like canda and wait four mouths for attention or every member in my household paying for medical care so others that aren't paying can have it. make it affordable for everyone
+2
Nina ~COB~Yes We Did April 14, 2008 20:17:13

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
I hate insurance companies of any kind.
+3
Bitwise Operator April 14, 2008 20:14:03

Answered: I'm undecided.
I think we Americans are far too medicated to begin with. There are alternatives to buying expensive (and toxic pills) from the pharm industry and many of them work very well. I'm not against all medicine, but people these days seem to want a magic pill for every condition and they want someone else to pay for the majority of it.
+2
lou lou to Bitwise... April 14, 2008 21:20:18

I agree! But people have to do the foot work and investigation to find these alternatives and people want instant results. Also it is a matter of prevention by staying well and making healthy choices.
+3
Carol Nobama April 14, 2008 20:05:37

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
They are greedy, immoral people. They have got the me attitude. Lets see how many billions of dollars we can make in profits. I have extra pills which I no longer use and I love to donate them to the poor but thats illegal. We will all soon have to choose between living in the street or living with pain and dying before our time. The only consolation I have is that the meek shall inherit the earth.
+2
gamman to Carol N... April 14, 2008 20:24:42

you said it rite ms. carol!
+2
Carol N... to gamman April 21, 2008 08:11:11
+3
PvK April 14, 2008 19:48:01

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Good thing we let organizations become massively wealthy and influential and own ideas forever.
+4
Chartreuse Dog ~COB April 14, 2008 19:43:38

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Why is it that the very same drugs, manufactured in the same plants, are cheaper in Canada than here? For the same reason the VA pays less for prescription drugs than Medicare patients pay. The Canadian government and the VA negotiate with drug companies. The same law that enacts Medicare, Part D, prohibits the Social Security Administration from negotiating for better prices.

Of course, if the price for Medicare patients were to be negotiated down, that still wouldn't keep the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies from ripping off the rest of us, and especially the uninsured.
+2
Jean April 14, 2008 19:33:40

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Check this web-site out..

http://www.rense.com/general5...

This web-site explains exactly how much it costs to make each tablet of many popular prescription drugs and how much we the people pay per tablet! Don't be shocked at the mark up percentage rate as most are marked up THOUSANDS.

It's disgusting because people NEED these medications, not only to survive, but also to live a decent quality of life. There are people out there eating off of the golden plate of others suffering.
+1
Chr*sto... to Jean April 14, 2008 19:49:07

Wow, thanks for the link... The markups are absurd!
+3
Janice April 14, 2008 19:08:51

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Insurance companies want to make a profit and will do it on the backs of the middle class. The wealthy can afford anything they want and the poor get medicaid but the middle class have to pay the price. If medication is affordable in other countries who have socialized medicine why do we in America have to pay such high premiums and high co-pays for medication. We need some limits put on CEO salaries and limit insurance company profits.
+10
MT Chris April 14, 2008 19:05:58 (edited)

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
I wonder how much worse it will have to get before people demand more government regulation. Another example of why an unregulated free market just isn't going to work for many people.

But I guess to most of us, paying $1000 to a company is much better than paying an addition $5 in taxes to the government, whether we're talking road maintenance, health coverage, education, regulating mortgage practices, ad infinitum.
+2
Robertswifey April 14, 2008 19:03:41

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
If you ever get a chance watch Michael Moore's Sicko, he addresses this problem and there are some stories in there that are really crazy.
+3
Sister Jean April 14, 2008 19:02:17

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
my meds have almost doubled the last 6 months
+2
statechamp13 April 14, 2008 19:01:36

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
does a bear shit in the woods? is the pope catholic?
+3
dnanna April 14, 2008 19:01:04

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
They are sick making money off the sick
+1
Spider20 April 14, 2008 19:00:38

Answered: Yes. Insurance companies don't care about people, only money.
Insurance companies try to limit their risk as much as possible......to make money........
+1
Sister ... to Spider20 April 14, 2008 19:04:38

Rite Aid took over for Brooks here and I heard last week they are millions in debt..must be why my pills went up????Have no idea where the $$$$ go,service at the pharmacy is terrible
+1
Spider20 to Sister ... April 14, 2008 20:11:18

Sounds like Brooks was a drug store? One of the reasons your pills go up in price is the insurance companies, but also the company that makes the meds. Take a look at the annual reports of most insurance carriers, the top ones anyway, you'll see they're doing okay.
Sister ... to Spider20 April 14, 2008 20:13:45

but funny the prices went up when Rite Aid pharmacy bought Brooks
+1
Spider20 to Sister ... April 14, 2008 20:17:09

Ask around....maybe Rite Aid's trying to get the store patron's to foot the bill on the poor performance of the Brooks store......check with other pharmacies in the area.....
+1
Sister ... to Spider20 April 14, 2008 20:18:53

I heard on news last week they are millions in debt cuzzzz of what went on at Brooks I am thinking of going elsewhere and I am talking $300.00 plus a month
+1
Spider20 to Sister ... April 14, 2008 20:20:13

Sounds like a good idea....you and all the other customers shouldn't be responsible for acquired debt......if Brooks was that far in the hole, Rite Aid should have stayed out of the deal.....
+1
Sister ... to Spider20 April 14, 2008 20:20:41

I so agree
+2
Spider20 to Sister ... April 14, 2008 20:21:13

Good luck on that.....Walgreen's?