[extropy-chat] Who Gets Expensive Treatments Under Socialism?

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On 4/16/07, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com> wrote:

> What strength atorvastatin? In Australia Lipitor varies between about
> $30/month for 10mg/d and $90/month for 80mg/d. This is the actual cost to
> the Government: the consumer pays a maximum of about $25/month per
> medication if employed and $3/month if unemployed or a pensioner regardless
> of the actual cost. It seems that the real cost of medication and services,
> whether privately or government funded, is considerably higher in the US.
>
### 10mg/d. Back when I had regular health insurance my pharmacist
said the price of a one month supply was 130$, but now looking at
online pharmacy prices it appears that the cost you are likely to pay
in the US is considerably lower, as low as 30$. Still, prices in the
US tend to be  higher - governments of many countries use monopsony to
force low prices of pharmaceuticals, in effect shifting R&D costs from
their citizens to Americans.

Rafal