zachster77 t1_ja8z9eb wrote
Reply to comment by OriginalCompetitive in The Desert of the Virtual. The metaverse heralds an age in which hardly anyone still believes that tech firms can actually solve our problems by Maxwellsdemon17
Are you sure either of those situations are in conflict with my point?
While the COVID vaccine was free to the public, the pharmaceutical companies were paid by various governments, resulting in record profits. All while much of the work for developing the vaccines was made possible by public funding.
For cancer treatments, look at this release:
Cancer is discussed like it's a natural resource the medical sector can mine for profits. And while ultimately it's a good thing that lives are being saved, the financial pressures to attain that salvation is devastating for many people. I'm sure you know that medical debt is the number two cause of bankruptcy (in the US at least).
OriginalCompetitive t1_ja9wjbt wrote
Maybe I misunderstood your point. By “lock it up behind capitalist roadblocks,” I figured you meant ordinary people don’t benefit. Clearly everyone benefited from the free vaccines. And if the manufacturers earned a handsome profit along the way, I don’t really have a problem with that. I want drug companies salivating at the thought of getting rich by developing important new vaccines.
I’m also not troubled that companies “mine cancer for profits.” That’s another way of saying “earn money by saving people’s lives.” Better than drilling for oil or running a casino.
I agree medical bankruptcies are a problem. But I’m honestly not sure quite what to make of them. Bernie Sanders claims 500,000 medical bankruptcies per year. But in a nation of 330 million, that’s less than one-half of one percent of the population. So it’s not really evidence that most people aren’t getting cancer treatments.
zachster77 t1_jaa1a7a wrote
Is it so easy to minimize the trauma of medical bankruptcies by reducing them to a percentage? 500,000 people dealing with physical and emotional struggles, also having to start their financial lives over? Every year?
If you think about the human experience of these people, I doubt you can dismiss them as a rounding error.
And again, most medical innovation is done with public money, or at the very least R&D tax rebates. The pharmaceutical companies often spend more on marketing elective drugs than they do developing treatments.
Publicly funded innovation should be provided at cost to patients.
OriginalCompetitive t1_jab4401 wrote
I don’t think I’m minimizing, just putting into context.
I genuinely am puzzled by medical bankruptcies though. I often think people who complain about US health insurance don’t actually understand the system. Assuming you don’t have insurance through work, Americans who earn less than $55k per year are eligible for insurance subsidies. And even on the lowest bronze plan, the total maximum out of pocket payment is $7000 per year.
Granted, it’s possible to go bankrupt over $7000, but my hunch is that most of them are people who never signed up. I’m still sympathetic, but there’s only so much the government can do. That said, I’d be ok with public healthcare too.
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