So Ted Cruz Did the Politically Appropriate Thing....

[EvolutionKills]

No shit, because of things like the Senate signing laws that prevent the Government from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for the drugs they purchase through Medicare and Medicaid. If the government was allowed to negotiate, being one of the largest (if not the largest) purchaser from these companies, they would have a lot of clout and could get much lower prices. Instead the Senate passes laws that forces the government to pay the company's asking price, regardless of however ridiculous that price may be. But even that being said, do you know what the overhead is on Medicare and Medicaid? 3%. The ACA guarantees at least a 15% for the for-profit insurance companies, and that's bullshit; health insurance (like education and emergency services) shouldn't be for-profit. It's just one of the reasons why America pays more than any other First World country and has the least amount to show for it.

I agree with you for the main. In the UK the NHS gets such great bulk order discounts that individual suppliers don't make a profit on sales (but its worth it to them because they cover costs and can then produce the other drugs they sell at lower cost.

However I see nothing wrong with the private sector contacting for certain contracts if they are better. For instance in the UK to get Spectacles on the NHS you could wait 3 months and have no choice then they introduce a voucher system and all the main high street stores had a range that could be bought at the voucher value.

Sure, I could see that working. Or even still have the option for private sale, if you have the money, no reason you can't walk out with glasses almost on the spot. But waiting three months so a child can get a pair of glasses that their parents would be unable to otherwise afford? That wait is a small price to pay for those glasses that the child needs, and will greatly improve their standard of living.

"If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." -J.K. Rowling

:EDIT:

On a side note, that quote actually has a really interesting history, which you can check out on the Quote Investigator blog.
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/03/09/inferiors/