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Thanks, Patrick. It is in fact very useful and relevant. In recent weeks various liberals have been lying about single-payer, claiming it wouldn't save money for patients. The rebuttals by PNHP and others have focused on two main points recently: the waste in administrative costs under the current multi-payer, for-profit setup -- and savings from forcing down drug prices. See pnhp.org, whose recently-released plan includes this: "The NHP would cover all medically necessary prescription medications, devices and supplies. It would directly negotiate prices with manufacturers, producing substantial savings. An expert panel would establish and update a national formulary, which would specify the use of the lowest cost medications among therapeutically equivalent drugs (with exceptions where clinically required). Full drug coverage is an essential component of an NHP. Copayments reduce adherence to medications and worsen clinical outcomes. The NHP would, like other large purchasers, use its market clout and formularies to negotiate lower drug prices with manufacturers. For instance, the Veterans Administration pays only 56-63% as much as Medicare does for drugs,24 because Medicare is prohibited from negotiating for lower prices." On Fri, May 20, 2016 at 11:20 AM, Patrick Bond via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > On 2016/05/20 12:59 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote: > >> >> http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/19/florida-man-kills-wife-medication-not-affordable >> > > I think the biggest miracle I've witnessed here in South Africa - a more > profound challenge to illegitimate power than anything since, and perhaps > including, the 1994 transition from racial (to class) apartheid - was > seeing friends recover from opportunistic AIDS infections because they > could get antiretroviral ARV medicines for free over the last 10 years or > so, here in the city with the highest # of HIV+ residents, Durban. > > That was only possible because of extraordinary activism which lowered the > price of ARVs from $15,000/year in the early 2000s. From 1999-2004, the > Treatment Action Campaign militants fought Big Pharma, the US and SA > political regimes, the World Trade Organisation and the whole idea of > Intellectual Property, and eventually won. Life expectancy in South Africa > has risen from 52 a decade ago to 62 today as a result. > > One of the great leaders of that struggle, Vuyiseka Dubula (disclosure: I > co-supervise her PhD) discusses it here: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2gEbUcFle4 > > It's an inspiration, hopefully to the US comrades who need to follow this > example to limit extreme medicines profiteering. > > > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/acpollack2%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
