“There is coming a tipping point when the Civil Unrest caused by the rationing and deprivation of these life-enhancing medical developments will become such that the whole house will be brought down and the trough with it. That event will be good for nobody.”

I need to contradict myself on what I previously wrote above. On thinking about it, that was a naive statment. Of course it would suit the purposes of some factions to have runaway Civil Unrest. Duh! Especially if Martial Law were to be declared, thus removing the last civil rights of the citizens. Therefore it is more essential than ever for the citizens, the ordinary members of the public, to get the situation defused before it comes to that. We urgently need to get the checks and balances identified and into place. There is a lot more at stake than just the immediate situation with Gilead.

dt

Could it really be starting already???

http://www.bidnessetc.com/58797-gilead-sciences-inc-and-abbvie-face-declining-hcv-scripts/

One can only hope.
Mike

Good point. Insurers should be filling airplanes with people going abroad to get treatment.
50 people a day x 365 x $100,000 = $1,825,000,000 that Gilead will never see. Even with their discounts, that would still save the insurance companies almost a billion dollars.
Math is not my strong point, so someone needs to check my figures.
Mike

” Insurers should be filling airplanes with people going abroad to get treatment.”

So the question is – why is this not happening?
Is there some law in the US which prevents insurers from doing it, ie. could they legally do it if they wanted to?
Or could they legally fund the insuree to go abroad via a Medical Tourism operator who manages the trip details?

I’d like to know specifically which US law(s) would be broken if this were to be done?

dt

Thanks for that explanation Mike.

I can see that the State coverage is not the place to look for innovation, but I am still wondering if there is no health insurer in the USA who can do the math and realize the potential in front of them. Because it is so huge, I think that this is an idea well worth pursuing. Here’s one article that gets it:
http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/editorial/us-health-insurance-medical-tourism-market-update/

HepC treatment is ideally suited to medical tourism. For the people who just need to get their meds there are no onerous medical procedures to undergo or long stays in hospital, so the risks are no greater than going on an organized foreign package holiday. I think it could take off. We just need the first large US employer to go for it. The rest will follow. And what the US does, the rest of the world will do.

This could be the way in that changes the game. Just need to get the figures out there and let them speak for themselves. If we can’t remove greed from the equation then let’s get it working FOR us.

dt

You are right V,
We just need someone that will ship to the U.S. This would provide access to a large number of people who simply don’t have the time or money to travel halfway around the world. If U.S. Customs detains a package, they have to notify you and give you 30 days to get it “undetained”. The amount of hell I could raise in 30 days……..
The head of Customs would be begging me to take it off their hands and shut up…
Mike

,Yes, I reckon we need the Pharma’s Market trusted suppliers to nominate which countries they are able to ship to and then a section where different countries customs rules/access/risk of seizure can be posted.
Then people without Australian delivery address and who can’t travel can look at both and work out whether their customs will allow meds through and then find a supplier prepared to ship to their country. Or a country next to theirs that they can reach easily or have rels in.

Insurance companies like to save money, but are so damn structured they can’t even imagine there is a box to think out of.
As far as pleasing customers. They consider the importance customer satisfaction like I rate the enjoyability of prostate exams-not very high
Mike