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According to Medicare, the top 20% healthcare users use up 80% of total costs, and the top half use 97% of costs.
Most private policies once accepted will not cancel you as long as you make the payments.
Government, once you combine all the programs, is the largest payer of healthcare. Healthcare providers are being squeezed by the government. It costs $10 to fill a prescription, the government only gives them $3.50. So, pharmacies are reviewing plans to remove counseling services from being included in prescription price and add an extra fee for them. A number of doctors refuse or limit medicare/medicade patients. The average reimbursement time for medicare/medicare is 3-4 months compared to 1 month for private insurance. The government is a major cause in the disappearance of independent pharmacies.
The drug companies and PBMs make the biggest profit. The major issue according to Pharma is that the cost of creating a new drug is in the hundreds of millions. I am willing to believe that. I am also willing to believe that most of their drugs fail and don't make it to market. I also know the cost of ingredients for most drugs is less than $1 per tablet, and also, some companies spend more on marketing than R&D. They have a right to make back their investment and make a profit, the issue is the amount.
FDA states if any alternative drug claims cure, they have to go through trials to prove it. If you read any claim by a supplement, they do not claim to cure a disease. Most alternatives do not survive the trial process. As a class, some of the Chinese herbals have the highest percentage of drug causing liver disease. If you claim a handful of dirt cures heart disease, then it comes under FDA jurisdiction.
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