Thread by @chrisvanderveen, THREAD I wanna walk you through a big shift that's coming to [...]

Chris Vanderveen

chrisvanderveen

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I wanna walk you through a big shift that& #39;s coming to the world of the drug #Remdesivir

@AnushaRoy9News will have more on this on @nexton9news today

In the meantime, let& #39;s talk about the drug. CO hospitals have, for weeks, been using supplies given to them by US govt

Basically, in a fairly large study, the drug shortened recovery time for #COVID19 by four days.

Colorado hospitals started receiving the drug in relatively large numbers back in May https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/29/gilead-announces-remdesivir-price-covid-19/">https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/2...

Gilead announces long-awaited price for Covid-19 drug remdesivir - STAT

Since remdesivir became the first medicine shown to have an impact on Covid-19, the big question has been what Gilead would charge for the drug.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/29/gilead-announces-remdesivir-price-covid-19/

In June, the state reported more distribution.

Here& #39;s what the hospitals got:

(one patient often received 5 vials)

But last week (as expected) the giveaways officially came to an end

Colorado hospitals are "on the cusp" of running out of their supplies... which -- by the way -- was always part of the plan

Now, hospitals will start to directly purchase the drug from Gilead - the manufacturer

I only say this because now patients (and likely their insurance companies) will be on the hook for the drug.

And it& #39;s relatively expensive.

Gilead did try to intentionally price it at below the level of savings for hospitals.

https://stories.gilead.com/articles/an-open-letter-from-daniel-oday-june-29">https://stories.gilead.com/articles/...

But here& #39;s the rub...

Now Remdesivir is going back into the wacky, oftentimes nonsensical world of the US drug pricing market.

And that means... uh... well... this:

(statement from Gilead)

Yep... Medicaid pays $390.

Private insurance pays $520

FOR. THE. SAME. DRUG.

Now, I know, all of this is insanely rudimentary for those with specialized knowledge of the US health care system.

But most of us aren& #39;t keenly aware of the game and how it works.

Make no mistake. It& #39;s a game.

In our system, private insurers almost always pay more for the same service.

Whether it& #39;s a drug or a procedure or a device.

You just don& #39;t typically see it spelled out so nicely in a rx company press release:

"Because of the way the U.S. system is set up"

And here& #39;s the thing...

if the drug works as advertised... who& #39;s to say it& #39;s not worth the cost.

If it shortens hospital stays, it ABSOLUTELY is.

but this is the system for everything in US health care.

It& #39;s messy and it& #39;s gross and (I believe) intentionally complicated.

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