R&D should be publically funded like basic research is. We can say 'these drugs are expensive because they are expensive to research' all we want because it's true, but this statement ignores the problem of it all, and that is every step of the way from a customers insurance payment to research and development, there is skimming.
Private health insurance cannot run at cost, private biotechnology companies cannot run at cost either, and this is because shareholders and executives demand it cannot. Every dollar of ROI in their portfolio is a dollar that could have gone to research and development or lowering drug prices, every yearly bonus could have tipped the scales and let one more person afford to save their life. It is tragically terrible that if you had the right books, you can calculate the exact x% of every dollar people spend towards healthcare that goes toward someone else's luxury rather than healthcare or in support of research. And thats ignoring the other half of the problem with private research, in that projects are decided by white collars and not white coats, so research efforts are focused on what will make a profit or what they can put out quickly before anyone else to dominate market share on a novel treatment, and not treatments for rarer diseases that might be backed with extensive basic research and only need to scale, but is marginally less profitable for the company.
However, if money for healthcare is taken publically, then there is no need to skim dimes on every dollar spent to grant someone a third house and a fifth car. Money can be earmarked directly for research, like basic research is, and what happens to that dollar would be of public record. Capitalism and its sole metric of success of infinite growth is inefficient by design and has no place when it comes to universal needs like healthcare.
I'm a diehard capitalist working in Wall Street and I could not possibly agree more.
Healthcare is not like other goods and services because (a) it's an universal need for which price sensitivity is zero (b) no one should have to pay life-crushing bills because they had no luck in the genetic lottery and (c) even for those health risks that people can control (obesity, cardiovascular problems), we have to admit that educating the population to eat better, sleep more and exercise is a pipe dream, particularly in the U.S. where shitty food is everywhere, the lobby for junk food and sugar is rampant, labeling and advertising for food is downright evil and work is incredibly demanding (unbelievably more demanding than in Latin America or Europe).
Healthcare and Education should be entirely subsidized by the government. Everything else can just be regulated to various degrees, always with the dual goal of minimizing state intervention while ensuring the market remains competitive.
Private health insurance cannot run at cost, private biotechnology companies cannot run at cost either, and this is because shareholders and executives demand it cannot. Every dollar of ROI in their portfolio is a dollar that could have gone to research and development or lowering drug prices, every yearly bonus could have tipped the scales and let one more person afford to save their life. It is tragically terrible that if you had the right books, you can calculate the exact x% of every dollar people spend towards healthcare that goes toward someone else's luxury rather than healthcare or in support of research. And thats ignoring the other half of the problem with private research, in that projects are decided by white collars and not white coats, so research efforts are focused on what will make a profit or what they can put out quickly before anyone else to dominate market share on a novel treatment, and not treatments for rarer diseases that might be backed with extensive basic research and only need to scale, but is marginally less profitable for the company.
However, if money for healthcare is taken publically, then there is no need to skim dimes on every dollar spent to grant someone a third house and a fifth car. Money can be earmarked directly for research, like basic research is, and what happens to that dollar would be of public record. Capitalism and its sole metric of success of infinite growth is inefficient by design and has no place when it comes to universal needs like healthcare.