We all know healthcare costs are too high.
We also know the last one who should be pointing fingers is Big Pharma.
But, in a recent report, Big Pharma goes ahead and tells us that “3 in 10 Americans who have insurance still face a financial barrier to care.”
Of course, they do.
How could they not face financial barriers to care when nearly a quarter of every dollar spent on healthcare goes to pay for prescription drugs?
Big Pharma is the biggest reason healthcare costs are so high.
Just this month reports came out that one major pharmaceutical company plans to sell a taxpayer-funded COVID-19 pill for more than $700 – or 40 times what it costs them to make it.
If Big Pharma is really concerned about healthcare costs, they have more than enough overhead to do something about it.
Between 2000 and 2018, 35 big drug companies received a combined revenue of $11.5 trillion, with a gross profit of $8.6 trillion.
When looking at the money left over after all Big Pharma’s expenses were taken out, the pure profit was almost twice as high as the 357 non-pharma companies in the S&P 500.
So, will Big Pharma dip into their $8.6 trillion in profit to help those 3 and 10 Americans who face a financial barrier to care?
We’re not holding our breath.