re: #32 Diego

And if we regulated ours then ours would come down.

Uh - yes, if prices are regulated to be lower, then prices will…be lower.

Maybe.

The cost of compliance with regulation will also be passed along to consumers, of course. And if the costs of one particular product are regulated below the point where it is profitable, the costs of other products may be increased to make up for the difference.

Or, the product may simply be removed from the market.

And then there’s the question: where is the incentive to research, test and market anything new, since the government will intervene to make recovery of the costs associated with that effort questionable, at best. So while today’s imperfect statins, for instance, may suddenly be cheaper, there’s a much greater likelihood that tomorrow’s much improved cholesterol regulating drugs will simply never be produced, or even discovered.

Better plan: find a way to expose consumers to the true cost of drugs and treatments, instead of masking them behind insurance coverage and copays that severely distort consumer perception of the marketplace.