FTA: "While a single dose of ketamine is cheaper than a $2 bottle of water, the cost to the consumer varies wildly, running anywhere between $500 and $1,500 per treatment."
Sigh.... why? Why must we turn any opportunity into a money grab?
Sigh.... why? Why must we turn any opportunity into a money grab?
If a patient comes in and gets an infusion of ketamine, even if the procedure only takes 1 hr (infuse and observe), you need to pay for the building, the nurse, the physician, all the backroom staff, etc.
Hell, I go into my primary care doctor for an annual physician and it costs ~$200. I see the doctor for maybe 5 minutes and a nurse for maybe another 5 min.
It's like saying "the cost of a bottle of coke is only $0.20, and it's such a shame that it costs me $1.50 at a gas station".
This increases the chances of abuse, but ensuring a prescription only lasts 6 doses or whatever would reduce that.
Hopefully once drug laws become a bit more relaxed, this will be seen as acceptable.
It'd be cool if the bill explicitly listed the actual costs separately from the implicit taxes (hospitals must provide stabilizing treatment, they don't get direct reimbursements for it, this is effectively a tax).