In this diary of systemic injustices, I will be talking partially about the problems within our health-care system in the United States of America but having a main focus on big pharmaceutical companies and the role they play in healthcare. For background, the United States healthcare system runs majorly on private health-care companies that are responsible for paying and collecting health benefits/money from their customers. There are other options to this privatized health care system we have here as there are at least thirty-two other countries that provide universal health care for all of their citizens.
Talking with one of my diabetic friends, he was extremely happy the last few months as his the price of his insulin had gone down as an indirect result of the corona virus. Since the virus has worsened, the company Eli Lily has lowered its insulin cap for out-of-pocket payments to $35 where the average American on the federal health care system pay about $700 yearly on insulin with price ranges usually higher.
These conversations that I’ve had with not only my friend but also my grandmother and uncle had me thinking about just how much these big pharmaceutical companies are profiting off of sick Americans. With these companies being privatized in our healthcare system, they are not only able to monopolize but also raise prices of life saving medicines. They are able to do this as they want because they know people will pay any price in order to save their life. I just find the fact that they not only profit off of these means but are also looking to increase that profit at the cost of human lives appalling. There are even theories of these big pharmaceutical companies coming out with medicines to make diseases affect people or longer periods of time in order to keep them buying their medications for longer periods of time, but that’s just a theory……