Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
To the extent that government is in the pocket of lobbyists I would agree with you. To the extent that we should just burn the barn down and start over, I would agree with you. But right now, I have no problem with government limiting the "how high can we go" profit-above-patients approach of some pharmaceutical companies.
Well, I have been in some predicaments where the proper tool just was not available and had to use what I had on hand. So if we can just back our way out of the room an inch at a time. And in that way reverse the process......I would use government to do that.

I delivered an inhaler to a rehabilitation facility. The client had been discharged or signed themselves out. The nurse sent it back to the pharmacy and said.."Well, that $500 we just saved."

I recently found a letter addressed to my dad two days after my birth, from the local hospital.
Room and Board.....$19
Laboratory.............$12
Drugs...................$.040
Total. $31.40

My dad likely made median income that year which according to the Department of Commerce was $5400. The hospital bill represented .6% of his annual income.

Last years median income was oddly enough $54,000. .6% would be $324. According to a CNN article, the average cost to have a baby last year was anywhere from $1,200 to $12,000 with a median or around $4,500. Not including specialists who bill separately.

Yeah, we got a big problem. Suppose we check out what we were doing in 1959 and head that direction.