Cristi Waltz’s fight for her grandson’s medicine exposes the dark underbelly of pharmacy benefit managers — and why lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding change.
Really great article, thanks for bringing this movement to light. Also, in the future, can you please identify the Senators who are blocking approval of the House-approved bill? They need to be held accountable too, as they were elected to represent the tax-payers, not Big Pharma.
The underlying premise that for-profit healthcare will be humane, efficient, and cost-effective is false. Single-payer universal healthcare is the better system, as demonstrated by the other wealthy countries of the world that pay half as much and have better results, including longer, healthier lives and lower infant mortality.
It is so far beyond belief that these vertically integrated thieves continue to function in the ways they do. I have a very good feeling that there will be some drastic changes made in 2025 to bring these monsters to their knees. It is beyond time to break them up, create competition, and stop the incessant thievery, deceit, lack of transparency, and GREED that is incomprehensible.
Why isn’t this country up in flames, I’ll never know. Citizens REALLY do need to stand up and fight back. The US “HC” system is basically a bureaucratic eugenics grifting machine. Greed can be deadly, it usually is. Who knew.
well it does basically boil down to sheer and utter greed from the very top down...that deprives people of their right to healthcare. Greed for decades, if not centuries and getting worse....nothing to do with rights, compassion, healthcare and humanity.
The role of private equity/venture capital must be eliminated from healthcare. Sorry, free enterprise gang, you ain't free and healthcare has crashed, whether hospital care, nursing homes, pharmacies, pharma, dialysis, and on. Most expensive, most belligerent, worst care outcomes--gotta love Us law designed for theft.
Stop the greed in health care and the financialization of health in the US. It has been done 75 years ago, and can be achieved now, Trump or no Trump.
R Morrow MD, Family Medicine since 1977--until now.
Well at the end of the day nothing will change . You can argue, report , suggest, complain and even make headlines but day after day the horror continues . A lot of fodder for reporters, health care advocates , senators , you name it but until universal health care is bought in and the profit is taken out of the system nothing but another stiry
The entire U.S. medical industry is a huge crooked, murderous mafia. I use the word 'industry' ironically, since medicine should not be an industry. That includes the hospital corporations, the pharmaceutical giant corporations, and every other aspect. We are the world's only industrialized nation without universal health care. At least 45,000 patients per year die from profit rather than medical decisions by these corporations, according to a landmark 2009 Harvard University study. That doesn't even touch how many times that number are maimed or have their lives shortened. We are also the only nation where simple procedures (not to mention complex ones) are so crazy expensive that millions of families have lost their homes, their pensions, and their savings to that ghoulish nightmare masquerading as 'free enterprise.' Remember the chilling words of that corporate republican monster, Ronny Ray Gun, in 1965, when he said "If Medicare becomes law, we will never again be a free people." We need to become free at last, free at last, free at last, by outlawing these criminals and adopting universal health care. We don't have to reinvent the wheel... every other nation has it in some form... let's just pick one (Germany; France; Luxembourg; Ireland; you name it) and become a FREE PEOPLE at last! JTC Sheep Heil! Maka America Real Again (MARA).
The Affordable Care Act didn't go far enough. What Americans need now is "Medicare for All," a non-profit, publicly supported health insurance option that everyone can afford:
I started as a pharmaceutical rep 1989. At that time
There independent pharmacies damn near everywhere. You could actually have a quick meaningful conversation with a doctor. Most of the pharmacies got bought by bigger fish big Stores.
Most independent medical offices joined each other for medical malpractice and hospitals became joined in consortiums ….
Hospitals look like Hotels.
Profits over people is no health care,
Changes forthcoming to this “Industry” that needs remodeling and improving for all of us.
At present the trust in the medical system is next to the lost trust on the tv news.
Really great article, thanks for bringing this movement to light. Also, in the future, can you please identify the Senators who are blocking approval of the House-approved bill? They need to be held accountable too, as they were elected to represent the tax-payers, not Big Pharma.
Pond scum is spelled, Schumer, the deadbeat who wouldn't bring it up for vote.
The underlying premise that for-profit healthcare will be humane, efficient, and cost-effective is false. Single-payer universal healthcare is the better system, as demonstrated by the other wealthy countries of the world that pay half as much and have better results, including longer, healthier lives and lower infant mortality.
It is so far beyond belief that these vertically integrated thieves continue to function in the ways they do. I have a very good feeling that there will be some drastic changes made in 2025 to bring these monsters to their knees. It is beyond time to break them up, create competition, and stop the incessant thievery, deceit, lack of transparency, and GREED that is incomprehensible.
Why isn’t this country up in flames, I’ll never know. Citizens REALLY do need to stand up and fight back. The US “HC” system is basically a bureaucratic eugenics grifting machine. Greed can be deadly, it usually is. Who knew.
well it does basically boil down to sheer and utter greed from the very top down...that deprives people of their right to healthcare. Greed for decades, if not centuries and getting worse....nothing to do with rights, compassion, healthcare and humanity.
The role of private equity/venture capital must be eliminated from healthcare. Sorry, free enterprise gang, you ain't free and healthcare has crashed, whether hospital care, nursing homes, pharmacies, pharma, dialysis, and on. Most expensive, most belligerent, worst care outcomes--gotta love Us law designed for theft.
Stop the greed in health care and the financialization of health in the US. It has been done 75 years ago, and can be achieved now, Trump or no Trump.
R Morrow MD, Family Medicine since 1977--until now.
Well at the end of the day nothing will change . You can argue, report , suggest, complain and even make headlines but day after day the horror continues . A lot of fodder for reporters, health care advocates , senators , you name it but until universal health care is bought in and the profit is taken out of the system nothing but another stiry
The entire U.S. medical industry is a huge crooked, murderous mafia. I use the word 'industry' ironically, since medicine should not be an industry. That includes the hospital corporations, the pharmaceutical giant corporations, and every other aspect. We are the world's only industrialized nation without universal health care. At least 45,000 patients per year die from profit rather than medical decisions by these corporations, according to a landmark 2009 Harvard University study. That doesn't even touch how many times that number are maimed or have their lives shortened. We are also the only nation where simple procedures (not to mention complex ones) are so crazy expensive that millions of families have lost their homes, their pensions, and their savings to that ghoulish nightmare masquerading as 'free enterprise.' Remember the chilling words of that corporate republican monster, Ronny Ray Gun, in 1965, when he said "If Medicare becomes law, we will never again be a free people." We need to become free at last, free at last, free at last, by outlawing these criminals and adopting universal health care. We don't have to reinvent the wheel... every other nation has it in some form... let's just pick one (Germany; France; Luxembourg; Ireland; you name it) and become a FREE PEOPLE at last! JTC Sheep Heil! Maka America Real Again (MARA).
The Affordable Care Act didn't go far enough. What Americans need now is "Medicare for All," a non-profit, publicly supported health insurance option that everyone can afford:
https://berniesanders.com/issues/medicare-for-all/
How can we reference this bill if we want to petition our senators?
Just an observation from historical perspective:
I started as a pharmaceutical rep 1989. At that time
There independent pharmacies damn near everywhere. You could actually have a quick meaningful conversation with a doctor. Most of the pharmacies got bought by bigger fish big Stores.
Most independent medical offices joined each other for medical malpractice and hospitals became joined in consortiums ….
Hospitals look like Hotels.
Profits over people is no health care,
Changes forthcoming to this “Industry” that needs remodeling and improving for all of us.
At present the trust in the medical system is next to the lost trust on the tv news.
We at Sentia Heath have the fix for this.