You willing to have a 50% tax rate? There isn’t a free lunch to be had, someone has to pay.
This tweet is simply a lie.
I use a standard Albuterol inhaler, which is what I assume the post is referring to. By coincidence, I’m due to refill my prescription so I can see the current price from CVS.
It costs $27.16, and that’s before insurance. That should last more than a month. If you are using more than 120 doses a month, you need to be on a controlling medication. In my experience, this is a market price that is within a couple of dollars of what you’d get at other pharmacies.
There are other inhalers that pump more powerful medicine (like corticosteroids) that are more expensive, but they are still not $600. Pulmicort costs about $180 a month before insurance, and in my experience its competitors are about the same. I don’t know what it costs in Europe.
I think that some people have figured out that they can get a lot of engagement on social media by spreading the impression that the United States is some sort of dystopian hellhole. We have problems, sure, but $600 inhalers are not a real issue.
Umm… my wife has asthma. She has two different inhalers. We pick them up at the local pharmacy in the US with a $0 co-pay.
Serious question, how hard is it to buy these kinds of drugs online? Like, the technology aspect of the problem is zero so why arent Americans gettign their supply from those cheaper sources?
Theres so much wrong with this post but I can disprove the UK one immediately, it’s even cheaper.
Most adults in England have to pay prescription charges.
Some items are always free, including contraceptives and medicines prescribed for hospital inpatients.
The current prescription charge is £9.65($12.28) per item.
Medical providers bill insurance $600/mo for inhalers*
FTFY
What they charge insurance is *not* the same as the cost of a thing if you bypass insurance. Hospitals and insurance negotiate “prices” in part so insurance can point to them and say “Stay with us because just look at how much money you’re saving”
As someone who has had asthma for many years – the cost of inhalers is an absolute disgrace, which might only be superseded by the price of insulin.
So “up to” for the U.S. price and “available for” for the international prices? Why not compare apples to apples?
Because it’s not a free market. In a free market competition would lower the price, but big Pharma doesn’t like real competition!
In some countries the corporations works for the government, not the other way around.
Paying for the corrupted big pharma CEO walking away with $100 mil plus annual salary.
Not healthy for us citizens but healthy for us healthcare. Imagine the dollar they rake in from selling each inhaler
Almost anyone in the UK who needs an inhaler gets it for free
Everyone else pays about £10, but that’s very few people
Cuz it’s capitalism. Plus we need to send bombs to Israel so that they can have free Healthcare, free college, and keep their genocide of Palestine going.
Wake up.
Big Pharma is organized crime. Hear me out. Organized crime has the characteristics of profit and power, fear and corruption, and breaking the law.
The Sackler Family is Exhibit A. Perdue Pharma misled doctors and the general public about the addictive quality of opioids which made them Billionaires while causing a public health crisis. The Sackler family is well known for their large donations to politicians, both Democrats and Republicans.
So what happened when Perdue’s value declined with the Opioid crisis? The pharmaceutical company responsible for flooding the United States with OxyContin decided to patent a new drug to treat opioid addiction. Yes, you read that right. Basically, Perdue and the Sackler family, who fueled the Opioid crisis that resulted in thousands of deaths, profited off the treatment of the crisis they created. It is crooked Capitalism at its finest. Create a drug you know is highly addictive, lie to the public and doctors to raise your profits, donate thousands of dollars to politicians who may be responsible for future profits, and then create a drug to treat the public health crisis you created.
It is the epitome of greed that occurs when corporations are unchecked with a policy of less regulation.
Because we are subsidizing everyone else. Same with Pharmaceuticals.
Not saying this is not the case…but I have asthma and never paid anywhere close to this for any inhaler and I have had some bad insurance…
The secret ingredient is crime.
Weasel words!
“Up to” for the US (meaning the very *highest* price that can be ginned up.)
“Available for” for Europe (meaning the very *lowest* price that can be found)
And, *which* inhaler? It’s impossible to verify this information yourself.
This is manipulative propaganda aimed at people with low critical thinking skills.
Hmm, just got albuterol for $10, and Flomax for $6. What kind of inhalers we talking?
Oh it’s very healthy for certain segments of the economy! Shareholder profits, baby!!
Bastards.
Yeah right compare the most expensive option from USA to the cheapest options from other countries.
Seems about right.
No dis-inflation happening in the healthcare.
US economy pfft who cares the 1% are making BANK! That’s what really matters.
24 comments
You willing to have a 50% tax rate? There isn’t a free lunch to be had, someone has to pay.
This tweet is simply a lie.
I use a standard Albuterol inhaler, which is what I assume the post is referring to. By coincidence, I’m due to refill my prescription so I can see the current price from CVS.
It costs $27.16, and that’s before insurance. That should last more than a month. If you are using more than 120 doses a month, you need to be on a controlling medication. In my experience, this is a market price that is within a couple of dollars of what you’d get at other pharmacies.
There are other inhalers that pump more powerful medicine (like corticosteroids) that are more expensive, but they are still not $600. Pulmicort costs about $180 a month before insurance, and in my experience its competitors are about the same. I don’t know what it costs in Europe.
I think that some people have figured out that they can get a lot of engagement on social media by spreading the impression that the United States is some sort of dystopian hellhole. We have problems, sure, but $600 inhalers are not a real issue.
Umm… my wife has asthma. She has two different inhalers. We pick them up at the local pharmacy in the US with a $0 co-pay.
Serious question, how hard is it to buy these kinds of drugs online? Like, the technology aspect of the problem is zero so why arent Americans gettign their supply from those cheaper sources?
Theres so much wrong with this post but I can disprove the UK one immediately, it’s even cheaper.
Most adults in England have to pay prescription charges.
Some items are always free, including contraceptives and medicines prescribed for hospital inpatients.
The current prescription charge is £9.65($12.28) per item.
taken from [here](https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions-and-pharmacies/nhs-prescription-charges/)
Medical providers bill insurance $600/mo for inhalers*
FTFY
What they charge insurance is *not* the same as the cost of a thing if you bypass insurance. Hospitals and insurance negotiate “prices” in part so insurance can point to them and say “Stay with us because just look at how much money you’re saving”
As someone who has had asthma for many years – the cost of inhalers is an absolute disgrace, which might only be superseded by the price of insulin.
So “up to” for the U.S. price and “available for” for the international prices? Why not compare apples to apples?
Because it’s not a free market. In a free market competition would lower the price, but big Pharma doesn’t like real competition!
In some countries the corporations works for the government, not the other way around.
Paying for the corrupted big pharma CEO walking away with $100 mil plus annual salary.
Not healthy for us citizens but healthy for us healthcare. Imagine the dollar they rake in from selling each inhaler
Almost anyone in the UK who needs an inhaler gets it for free
Everyone else pays about £10, but that’s very few people
Cuz it’s capitalism. Plus we need to send bombs to Israel so that they can have free Healthcare, free college, and keep their genocide of Palestine going.
Wake up.
Big Pharma is organized crime. Hear me out. Organized crime has the characteristics of profit and power, fear and corruption, and breaking the law.
The Sackler Family is Exhibit A. Perdue Pharma misled doctors and the general public about the addictive quality of opioids which made them Billionaires while causing a public health crisis. The Sackler family is well known for their large donations to politicians, both Democrats and Republicans.
So what happened when Perdue’s value declined with the Opioid crisis? The pharmaceutical company responsible for flooding the United States with OxyContin decided to patent a new drug to treat opioid addiction. Yes, you read that right. Basically, Perdue and the Sackler family, who fueled the Opioid crisis that resulted in thousands of deaths, profited off the treatment of the crisis they created. It is crooked Capitalism at its finest. Create a drug you know is highly addictive, lie to the public and doctors to raise your profits, donate thousands of dollars to politicians who may be responsible for future profits, and then create a drug to treat the public health crisis you created.
It is the epitome of greed that occurs when corporations are unchecked with a policy of less regulation.
Because we are subsidizing everyone else. Same with Pharmaceuticals.
Not saying this is not the case…but I have asthma and never paid anywhere close to this for any inhaler and I have had some bad insurance…
The secret ingredient is crime.
Weasel words!
“Up to” for the US (meaning the very *highest* price that can be ginned up.)
“Available for” for Europe (meaning the very *lowest* price that can be found)
And, *which* inhaler? It’s impossible to verify this information yourself.
This is manipulative propaganda aimed at people with low critical thinking skills.
Hmm, just got albuterol for $10, and Flomax for $6. What kind of inhalers we talking?
Oh it’s very healthy for certain segments of the economy! Shareholder profits, baby!!
Bastards.
Yeah right compare the most expensive option from USA to the cheapest options from other countries.
Seems about right.
No dis-inflation happening in the healthcare.
US economy pfft who cares the 1% are making BANK! That’s what really matters.