Semiwiki on LinkedIn Semiwiki on Facebook Semiwiki on Twitter Register / Log in 
Array
(
    [content] => 
    [params] => Array
        (
            [0] => /forum/threads/mark-cuban-and-amazon-using-tech-to-lower-drug-prices-dramaticaly.18587/
        )

    [addOns] => Array
        (
            [DL6/MLTP] => 13
            [Hampel/TimeZoneDebug] => 1000070
            [SV/ChangePostDate] => 2010200
            [SemiWiki/Newsletter] => 1000010
            [SemiWiki/WPMenu] => 1000010
            [SemiWiki/XPressExtend] => 1000010
            [ThemeHouse/XLink] => 1000970
            [ThemeHouse/XPress] => 1010570
            [XF] => 2021770
            [XFI] => 1050270
        )

    [wordpress] => /var/www/html
)

Mark Cuban and Amazon using tech to lower drug prices dramaticaly

A

Arthur Hanson

Well-known member
US medical is among the largest legalized criminal empires in history consuming twenty percent of our GDP while delivering 37th in quality. Announced on CNBC this morning Amazon and Cost Plus Drugs are bringing dramatically lower prices to generics. One prescription I have the cost was literally less than a penny on the dollar after I got my doctor to go through the process. I have no doubt everyone in that medical group is now benefitting to the tune of hundred thousand per year, possibly more. My doctor went through paperwork I gave her the very evening I had my appointment and I recieved email confirmation the next morning. This is just one application of tech that will soon save people literally billions in just a few years. This is just the first battle in a revolution that tech will bring to medical.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VCT
The example you provided of Amazon and Cost Plus Drugs lowering the prices of generics showcases the potential for technology-driven disruption in the pharmaceutical industry. Increased transparency and competition could lead to more accessible and affordable medications for patients.
 
Cost Plus Drugs is not using advanced technology to lower the price of drugs. They are just negotiating with and buying directly from drug manufacturers and limiting their own markup to 15%. I was a customer too, and they have a limited list of drugs they have access to. There's no technological magic involved at all.

The root cause of problems with the US healthcare is the US Congress. There are numerous simple regulations they could pass to lower healthcare costs, but they refuse to consider them, because of lobbyists and the legality of Political Action Committees (PACs) to influence legislators.
 
blueone said:
Cost Plus Drugs is not using advanced technology to lower the price of drugs. They are just negotiating with and buying directly from drug manufacturers and limiting their own markup to 15%. I was a customer too, and they have a limited list of drugs they have access to. There's no technological magic involved at all.

The root cause of problems with the US healthcare is the US Congress. There are numerous simple regulations they could pass to lower healthcare costs, but they refuse to consider them, because of lobbyists and the legality of Political Action Committees (PACs) to influence legislators.
Click to expand...

They do have a manufacturing facility that should be coming online that came online at the end of 2022 and be certified shortly.
 
Arthur Hanson said:
They do have a manufacturing facility that should be coming online that came online at the end of 2022 and be certified shortly.
Click to expand...
I didn't know that, but I just checked and the manufacturing facility is not operational yet. Also, it is only manufacturing generics, which are already cheap through a variety of sources. He really has no viable plan for drugs under patent protection, which is where the large majority of drug spending goes. I can see someone being a fan of Cuban's, he's got a more publicly-minded attitude than 99% companies in the healthcare field, but it's not about high tech. It's just about a different business plan.
 
Basically Mark Cuban is bypassing the corruption that runs through US medical both vertically and horizontally through the medical business structure in more ways than most can imagine or even count. This corruption is further advanced by having a government addicted to the contributions of the medical sector and US medical becoming a major political force in its own right.

The ability of the tech sector to shine light or serious problems or challenges will be key to solving this challenge. Cuban has done this by getting rid of the established system of corruption at every step by bypassing multiple levels of institutionalized corruption and waste.
 
To me it's even more impressive that Blue Shield of California has dumped CVS, one of the nation's biggest and most notorious Pharmacy Benefit Managers (the expensive middlemen in the US drug supply chain) for Amazon and Cost Plus. That move alone today knocked over 8% off the stock price of CVS. I smiled when I saw that.
 
blueone said:
As usual, the Wall Street Journal's article on the Blue Shield / CVS / Amazon / Cost Plus situation is much more thorough than CNBC's. Sorry that it requires a subscription.

www.wsj.com

WSJ News Exclusive | A Big Health Insurer Is Ripping Up the Playbook on Drug Pricing

Blue Shield of California says it aims to save millions on drug costs, and plans to drop CVS Caremark as pharmacy-benefit manager
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com
Click to expand...
I personally like the Economist and Barron's when it comes to finance
 
Arthur Hanson said:
I personally like the Economist and Barron's when it comes to finance
Click to expand...
We also subscribe to the Economist. Well, I should say that my spouse does. If it were up to me I'd cancel it. Too expensive for the value added. She was an Economics major when she was an undergrad, and started reading it then. I think what she really enjoys is being entertained by having a bunch of Brits tell the US about how the country should be run, and she's a bit of an Anglophile. While sometimes The Economist has decent articles where I can say I learn a lot, much of their "reporting" is too much editorializing and commentary embedded in the factual reporting, a style I despise in modern journalism.

Barron's, is a member of the News Corp. family of publications and web sites, which includes Fox News, the WSJ, MarketWatch, and FoxBusiness, and mostly consists of "analysis and commentary", and leans mostly towards the Economist editorial style. I suppose I'm burned out on non-expert analysis and commentary. So far, the WSJ news articles are separate from the Opinion section, and I find the completeness of their articles refreshing.

I will say this for CNBC, they're the quickness champ for getting breaking news on their website.
 
blueone said:
We also subscribe to the Economist. Well, I should say that my spouse does. If it were up to me I'd cancel it. Too expensive for the value added. She was an Economics major when she was an undergrad, and started reading it then. I think what she really enjoys is being entertained by having a bunch of Brits tell the US about how the country should be run, and she's a bit of an Anglophile. While sometimes The Economist has decent articles where I can say I learn a lot, much of their "reporting" is too much editorializing and commentary embedded in the factual reporting, a style I despise in modern journalism.

Barron's, is a member of the News Corp. family of publications and web sites, which includes Fox News, the WSJ, MarketWatch, and FoxBusiness, and mostly consists of "analysis and commentary", and leans mostly towards the Economist editorial style. I suppose I'm burned out on non-expert analysis and commentary. So far, the WSJ news articles are separate from the Opinion section, and I find the completeness of their articles refreshing.

I will say this for CNBC, they're the quickness champ for getting breaking news on their website.
Click to expand...
 
I use a combination of several sources besides Barron's, the Economist and numerous technical publications to provide the research I need. I'm a big believer in follow the money and have done well in courts where I advised people with their lawyers saying "I don't know where you found this guy, but he is something else", all in a very good sense. I only like to represent or help those that a getting the shaft, which happens more often than you might think. I used to live in the law library in Hayward near where I used to live. Now they try to deny people access by only having law libraries in the county seat. I think every court has should have a Westlaw program for the non-lawyers. I even got a judge removed from one of my cases for I didn't understand which crackerjack box she got her degree from. The next judge knew the law and I won my case against a company trying to stiff me. I am a compulsive reader, at least two hundred pages a business day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top