The robber barons are back at it again, only this time the robbers are pharmaceutical corporations and hospitals. Hospitals have been jacking up prices as much as 500% with impunity for decades. Now Pharmaceuticals are joining in. Apparently greed is good and government is looking the other way.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that many hospitals charged more than 20 times the cost of some services, particularly for certain services like CT scans and anesthesiology. The researchers said that the pattern of charging suggests that hospitals strategically look for surreptitious ways to boost revenue. (Huffington Post)
Johnson and Johnson, the largest among Pharmaceutical Corporations makes Remicade, a biologic to treat severe rheumatology. Remicade is J&J's biggest drug. Its sales for the first half of the year grew by 9.1% to $1.77 billion. Prices for Remicade infusions billed by Inland Hospital in Waterville, Maine have unbelievably been increased from billings of $5,659 in 2012 to $11,891 this year. That is more than a doubling of prices in just four years. In all fairness to Inland Hospital, most of that price increase is the jacked up price for the drug.
Drug makers often argue that drug price hikes are standard industry practice meant to recoup money for past and future R&D, and that high list prices are misleading since they don’t consider discounts and rebates. But the fact that net prices have been on the rise puts a bit of a dent into that argument. (FORTUNE magazine)
How much could patients save on prescription drugs if big pharma didn't spend billions on advertising?
(Washington Post)
Is there any question that big corporations control our government? There is no positive action by government now to stop this out of control greed by hospitals and pharmaceuticals. Isn’t it time we show, these non-representatives of ours to the door. Isn’t it time we stop calling these highly profitable hospitals “non-profits”? Isn’t it time we drop the so-called Affordable Care Act and enact a single payer system?