America's Stunningly Overpriced Healthcare System In 2 Charts

[Mr. Blue Sky]

68. You are on the right track...

The CMS must abide by a rule passed by congress that drugs may not be reimbursed for more than the average price of the U.S. marketplace. Drug companies are bullied by other countries to supply drugs at cut-rate prices under threat of patent invalidation. Drug companies make up the difference by jacking up the price in the U.S.

Another factor is that the CMS is mandated to cover EVERY drug that is approved by the FDA regardless of cost. More facts to consider... the majority of cancer care costs come in the last 6 months of life. Cancer drugs are most effective when matched with a specific genetic marker. Most cancer treatments are prescribed regardless of genetic marker "just in case" they might help. The average full treatment cost for Erbitux is $160K and the drug sold $703M in 2011. The average treatment cost for Avastin is around $100K and sold $2.6B in 2011. If it were mandated that only those patients who matched the label and had the right genetic marker receive Erbitux and Avastin, we would save about $2B in health care costs a year on just those two drugs... 2 drugs.