Developed nation states with public healthcare systems rely on the US pharma industry for an outsize part of drug discovery. It may be better for the whole world that there's one rich country taking the private approach.
Also, the idea that if "something is in everyone's interest, it should be nationalized" doesn't address the fact that free markets are better at matching supply to demand. For example, the UK and Canada have significant healthcare supply shortages that only seem to be getting worse.
To put the previous paragraph another way: having "a right to healthcare" in the abstract is nice but if you need to see an oncologist, waiting weeks/months/years is going to get you killed. In the US this is much less of an issue. Yes it's expensive but when the alternative is "dying of cancer," people are okay going into debt!
> Developed nation states with public healthcare systems rely on the US pharma industry for an outsize part of drug discovery
I've heard this argument again and again and nobody has ever given me any hard proof.
SOME drugs are developed in the US. Not this one the post focuses on. How many drugs does the US produce as compared to the rest of the world? I dunno, nobody has any numbers. But you're assuming it's enough for it to qualify as a type of "welfare". That, to me, is more of a wishful belief than a hard reality - i.e. you're coping. The drugs are extremely expensive and it's hard to accept that maybe you're being scammed, so people retroactively create plausible reasons to explain this so they don't feel scammed. At least, that's what I see.
> In the US this is much less of an issue
This is actually incorrect. Health outcomes in the US are worse than pretty much every developed nation. This is where my previous paragraph comes in.
People would like very badly to believe our high prices are because the service is good, but this is not actually true, this is just a coping mechanism. Not only are our prices higher, but our standard of care is much lower.
> For example, the UK and Canada have significant healthcare supply shortages that only seem to be getting worse.
This is largely conservative propaganda. If you delve deeper, you will find out that wait times are typically lower in the UK and Canada as opposed to the US. Conservatives cherry pick examples of longer wait times, but again, you have to delve deeper than "oh it takes three months to get random tendon you've never heard of surgery!"
There is no such thing as a major US Pharma company. Major Pharma Companies and the industry are multinational. Revenue from the US is what makes drug development profitable, no matter where the companies are located. If the US paid the same as Europe, most drugs would not be economical to develop.
When you sit in a go/no-go decision to develop a new drug, you model US revenue and ROW revenue to see if the product is worth developing. US Revenue is usually 2x what can be made elsewhere, and pushes the product into the green.
The new drug in this article is Cobenfy, by Bristol Myers Squibb. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is a multinational pharmaceutical company. BMS Revenues from US sales is 32 Billion. Revenues from every other country put together is 13 Billion. [1, pg 19]. The Company Bristol Myers Squibb has a profit Margin of about 14%. IF US paid like Europe, the profit margin would be -35% per year.
This is the way the US props up the global pharma industry. Now, I personally dont think this is something to be proud of. I think it would be better to simply not have many of the drugs we do, than pay the high prices. Alternatively, if somehow the US price matched with Europe, perhaps Europe would be forced to raise their prices.
The current state is like splitting the electric bill with a housemate who will only pay 25%. As long as you are scared of the power getting cut off, you are stuck paying most of the bill and being exploited.
The US health industry is deeply flawed, but it isnt just the private/public distinction. Many European countries have private healthcare and still have lower costs. It is systemic dysfunction and fear that drives the costs.
Also, the idea that if "something is in everyone's interest, it should be nationalized" doesn't address the fact that free markets are better at matching supply to demand. For example, the UK and Canada have significant healthcare supply shortages that only seem to be getting worse.
To put the previous paragraph another way: having "a right to healthcare" in the abstract is nice but if you need to see an oncologist, waiting weeks/months/years is going to get you killed. In the US this is much less of an issue. Yes it's expensive but when the alternative is "dying of cancer," people are okay going into debt!