Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
Fact-based, data-driven research and analysis to advance democratic debate on vital issues shaping people’s lives.
Center for Economic and Policy Research
1611 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 202-293-5380
Fax: 202-588-1356
https://cepr.net
The NYT had an interesting piece this morning on how insurers are trying to reduce the cost of treating cancer. While the piece notes that much of the cost is related to the high price of new cancer drugs it would have been worth mentioning that this is the result of government granted patent monopolies. If the government used a different mechanism for financing drug development and allowed drugs to be sold at the free market price, all of these treatments would be relatively low cost. The doctors would be able to choose the one that they viewed as best for their patient without worrying about the cost.