Yeah this is true. The cost of generics is so low but in the United States it remains quite expensive if you don’t have insurance.
Showing prices up front would be the very least we could do to start to clean up this fraudulent billing mess that is healthcare here in the US.
It would, but Medicare would never agree to that, because it would cut off a major source of indirect revenue for them.
CMS absolutely is a "decision making body", with direct authority over a whole number of matters.
But even beyond its office authority granted by Congress, Medicare (both the people who run it and the people who generally support it) are incredibly influential as well, and they would use that influence to block any policy that would affect Medicare so negatively (even if it would be good for the public at large)
Not really - Gilead provides assistance programs for people who have private insurance, for people on public insurance, and for people who are uninsured (there are three separate assistance programs). The plan for people who have private insurance is the best (you end up paying $0/year for PrEP), and the plan for people who are uninsured is pretty good (not $0/year, but still pretty affordable).
The sticker price is meaningless. Because of the assistance programs, nobody needs to pay it, whether you're on private insurance or uninsured.
If not, why not lower it for -- at a minimum -- a PR boost?
Gilead intended the program to cover about $300/mo, in order to cover your co-pay until your deductible is satisfied. That worked fine until this year, when UnitedHealthcare decided to re-class my card from co-pay assistance to a “manufacturer’s coupon” — thus accepting Gilead’s money while it lasted but still expecting me to pickup the full tab until my deductible.
:(