Example: Imatinib is listed anywhere between $3k and $19k retail depending on the store you buy it (source: GoodRX). With insurance, you would never pay this amount. Without insurance you can use a coupon provider like GoodRX to reduce the retail price to as low as $120. I am told, but have no proof, that if you have no insurance and no coupon, the store will provide a “cash purchase value” that matches or is very close to the coupon price.
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Medicare is forbidden from negotiating prices by law. They have to pay list price. This is because bribery in the USA is effectively legal, and pharmaceutical companies paid to have that insane law passed.
In the UK, the NHS (national health service) uses its size to negotiate great deals. Prescription costs to individuals usually cap out I think it’s around $200-250 for all your prescriptions for a year. That’s max, and only if you have multiple per month.
The UK provides single payer health care to the entire country mostly free at the point of use. The US state spends more per capita on healthcare than the UK does. Part of that is better drug pricing and similar insane healthcare policies.
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