The status quo is massive scamming by pharma companies to U.S. consumers exclusively, while the rest of the world gets a better deal on pharmaceuticals.

By saying the admin should not use all available leverage points and levers to force them to lower prices, you're arguing for continued pharma profiteering, aren't you?

By the way, the Biden admin did exactly this through a lever contained within the Inflation Reduction Act for Ozempic, among others. [1]

[1] https://www.npr.org/2023/08/29/1195984752/medicare-drug-pric...

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LarsKrimi 3 hours ago | parent [-]

What happened to letting the free market work it's magic? Has America changed to communism recently without telling anyone?

Jk ofc. But the ones scamming Americans are American middlemen - the PBMs.

With this change the regime is just proving that it will not fix problems caused by their rich friends but rather pass the bill onto the manufacturers

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ryandvm an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Free markets don't exist when the political system is engineered for regulatory capture. Look at corporate political spending over the last 30 years. We don't have free markets.

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0xy 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

PBMs do indeed pile-on and profiteer, however manufacturers are fleecing U.S. consumers specifically and exclusively.

Profits in the U.S. for drug manufacturers on a per-drug level are significantly higher than in other countries.

By saying the admin should leave the innocent manufacturers alone, you're papering over this fact. Numerous experts on this issue have suggested the government needs to negotiate with pharma companies directly. Now the admin is doing just that you're saying those companies should not be negotiated with and they're innocent of all profiteering, a suggestion not sustained by the facts.

	▲	LarsKrimi 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I believe you are correct that the list pricing from manufacturers is higher in the US. But my understanding is that this is due to the PBMs punishing manufacturers for lowering the list price. Lower list price means less profit for the PBMs for the discount they negotiate