Quote:
Originally Posted by innerSpaceman
Oh, and insurance companies will be grated IN PERPETUITY (meaning forever) the exclusive right to market the biologic drugs that are the keys to futuristic medicine. No generics of these drugs would ever be available. Such drug regimens are expected to cost between $10,000 and $18,000 per year.
|
I assume you mean that the evergreening was granted to the pharm companies and not the insurance companies (which would really not make any sense).
That said, does that really deny the drugs to the poor? If there is a requirement to provide the coverage, and controls on how much the insurance can cost (or the gov. subsidizes cost for those who can't afford) and lifetime and annual caps are eliminated doesn't this just mean that almost immediately the insurance companies will immediately begin advocating with the government to change this?
If such drugs are excluded from the required coverage floor then it does seem a problem, though I don't really have a problem with an initial 8-12 year patent so long as evergreening is reasonably difficult.
All this said, I've been out of country and am not remotely up to date. But the specific text of the House version strikes me as so thoroughly irrelevant that I'm not sure I'll find the energy to read it like I did the initial Ways & Means version as a baseline. I'll probably wait until conference if it ever gets that far.