(August 25, 2016 at 12:04 am)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(August 24, 2016 at 11:58 pm)Nymphadora Wrote: How does that work? I get my scripts filled at Walgreens. If I call them and then call Rite-Aid or CVS and ask all three how much the EpiPen costs for my ins. company, I will get three different answers. I know because I used to get my scripts filled at Weis and then I switched to Rite-Aid and finally Walgreens because they are open 24/7 and I like the convenience.I think the major retail pharmacies all negotiate separately with insurers and don't get the same deals. Same goes with healthcare providers.
I hate this dodge. A business is a business, be it Walmart, McDonalds, Johnson & Johnson, or Blue Cross. Reagan's deregulation has allowed all big businesses to dictate, so the only competition, is between them, so those "negotiations" are still a monopoly. Very little of that translates to savings to the consumer. As long as we subsidize tax breaks for big business, and allow them to dictate lawmaking, the cost of living gap will keep exploding. What needs to happen is simple, better pay for workers. The worst part is that the idiots in the top tax bracket could benefit from better pay because people would have more to spend, and it would create less dependency on government.
What we have now is corporate blackmail. Stop the blackmail, things will get better.
