USA's Health Care vs Universal Health Care

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by LiftGirl

That simply isn't true. Generics are only allowed to change the inactive ingredients, not the active ones. Changing the inactive ingredients will not affect the action of the drug.

Brand names cost 3 times or more as much as generics, and if everyone uses brand name drugs when there are generics available because they falsely believe there's a difference, then health care costs are going to increase way beyond what any system of care can pay.

I talked to my sis again and it appears i just didn't remember correctly what she said, so i was wrong about generics being different and such .

[Motivated]

Originally Posted by pierini

We need to move in the direction like it was when I was born and make us all aware of how much medical care costs and more responsible for those costs.

I talked to my Dad and asked him how the hospital and doctors costs of my birth was handled when I was born 52 years ago. My Dad was a cab driver and my Mom was a homemaker and they didn't have health insurance. My Dad said he had to save his money for a couple of months to pay all the costs, but it wasn't that bad he said. I can't imagine a modern day couple with this economic profile being able to pay the cost of a maternity delivery if they didn't have insurance.

Most Americans do not even know the cost of the medical care they receive, don't directly pay for it, and thus we don't have consumerism to provide the balance needed to keep medical care costs in check.

So I believe a national health insurance plan for America is a bad idea. We need to go in the other direction.

I pay $758 a month for health insurance and it is constantly going up. It really shot up big time when I hit the big 50. If there was a national health insurance plan, maybe I would pay $0 directly but I guarantee you I would pay more taxes because there is no such thing as a free lunch and somebody has got to do the paying.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Check out Ron Paul guys.

Ron Paul 2008 — Hope for America

[MAURER]

lol... motivated... i should try to bash you for being so opportunistic to endorse your candidate.... but im not because i like ron paul. its too bad that some people have called him "whacko" because people are so brainwashed away from freedom and personal accountability but thats the way it goes.

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by LiftGirl

Brand names cost 3 times or more as much as generics,

Thats not true either it depends on the product and government and insurance deals with the comapnies. When a patent is expired companies realise they now have to compete with generics and streamline their production to achieve this.
I would say a 300% difference is a definate minority.

[LiftGirl]

Originally Posted by Maxgain

Thats not true either it depends on the product and government and insurance deals with the comapnies. When a patent is expired companies realise they now have to compete with generics and streamline their production to achieve this.
I would say a 300% difference is a definate minority.

OK, I made an overgeneralized statement. I was referring to the retail price, not necessarily the negotiated price that government or insurance companies pay.

Also, if people insist on brand because they think generic is different, then the company producing the brand name has no incentive to lower the price for the brand name.

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by LiftGirl

OK, I made an overgeneralized statement. I was referring to the retail price, not necessarily the negotiated price that government or insurance companies pay.

Also, if people insist on brand because they think generic is different, then the company producing the brand name has no incentive to lower the price for the brand name.

that must be only in America then as definatly not for retail here in Europe.

[ajarvis]

Originally Posted by getaway

6 hours in emergency? Those politicians love to exaggerate, longest I've been in emergency is 45 minutes and that was with about 20 other people in the room. I believe universal healthcare is the best way to go, not everyone can afford 6,000 for a simple surgery and health insurance companies are constantly trying to weasel their way out for paying for you. The wait may be long, but the wait isnt going to kill you, would you rather wait a few hours, or pay through the nose?

Where I live 6hrs in emergency is not an exageration by any means. When I was in ON we had 2 people die en route to hospitals because they kept getting rerouted - the hospitals they were heading to couldn't take them.

My BF broke his hand one night and we got there at 9pm, and didn't get home til' almost 3am. we didn't see a doctor until about midnight. Even though he came in on a stretcher because his blood pressure was dropping like crazy (he doesn't handle injuries well lol). Plus that didn't fix the problem. Not the next day, but the day after we had to go back to the hospital for him to have surgery and get screws put in his hand - 2 days later after the healing process has started!

[Merrida]

Actually generic medications are not required to contain the same percentage of active ingredients as brand name drugs. The same ingredient, yes, but not the same percentage. I not only heard this straight from my pharmacy but did some digging on my own when my insurance refused to pay for any brand name drugs (as I've had allergic reactions to some dyes and fillers in the generics of one particular drug).

For example, let's take one drug (unmentioned name) that I discussed with my pharmacist. The brand name, labeled at 10mg, contains 10mgs of the active ingredient. The generic drug of the same item is only required to carry 8.5%-9% of the same drug. Now while most people won't notice a difference, some do. But take that 1.5%-1% and add up what that costs across the billions of pills shipped out and you'll see where the savings come in along with using lousy hard to break down fillers and binders.

They are definitely NOT the same.


.

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by Merrida

Actually generic medications are not required to contain the same percentage of active ingredients as brand name drugs. The same ingredient, yes, but not the same percentage. I not only heard this straight from my pharmacy but did some digging on my own when my insurance refused to pay for any brand name drugs (as I've had allergic reactions to some dyes and fillers in the generics of one particular drug).

For example, let's take one drug (unmentioned name) that I discussed with my pharmacist. The brand name, labeled at 10mg, contains 10mgs of the active ingredient. The generic drug of the same item is only required to carry 8.5%-9% of the same drug. Now while most people won't notice a difference, some do. But take that 1.5%-1% and add up what that costs across the billions of pills shipped out and you'll see where the savings come in along with using lousy hard to break down fillers and binders.

They are definitely NOT the same.


.

This is not completely true. They are the same therapeutically.

They are required to contain the amount that they say is on the label.

For example losec 20mg and losepine 20mg all contain omeprazole 20mg.
Now they can contain different fillers binders bulking agents etc.
Both the brand and generics have the smae standards to meet in regards of content and its uniformity

However bioavailablity studies must be produced to show an equivalence to the brand with absorption and distibution.

For the difference due to some inactive ingredients which is mostly in patients head no insurance company should be paying for brands unless there was a legitimate excuse due to allergy which is highly unlikely.