Price controls have a history of failure
Democrats are continuing to push for a socialist, trillion-dollar tax-and-spend plan. As part of this plan, they are pushing socialist price controls on the U.S. healthcare system. They claim this will help inflation by reducing the cost of prescription drugs.
Price controls will not reduce costs. They will instead move the U.S. healthcare system closer to a socialist system, harm manufacturing jobs, and threaten the development of the next generation of cures.
For instance, when price controls were imposed on gas in the 1970s, they led to long lines and shortages at gas stations. While they may reduce the cost of products initially, they quickly lead to shortages and ultimately harm consumers.
Price controls are not the solution to inflation
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of prescription drugs increased by just 1.9 percent over the past year.
In contrast, the consumer price index for all items increased by 8.6 percent. Gasoline prices increased by 48 percent, bacon increased by 15 percent, and eggs increased by 32 percent. Used cars and trucks increased 16 percent, airfare by 38 percent, and milk by 16 percent.
Price controls in foreign countries lead to healthcare shortages
For instance, Canadian patients wait an average of 19.8 weeks from referral to treatment. By comparison, 77 percent of Americans are treated within four weeks of referral, while just 6 percent wait more than two months.
In the UK, there was a shortage of 10,000 doctors and 43,000 nurses in 2019, with 9 in 10 managers in the National Health Service saying that too few doctors and nurses presented a danger to patients.
The U.S. is currently a world leader when it comes to medical innovation. According to research by the Galen Institute, 290 new medical substances were launched worldwide between 2011 and 2018. The U.S. had access to 90 percent of these cures, a rate far greater than comparable foreign countries. By comparison, the United Kingdom had access to 60 percent of medicines, Japan had 50 percent, and Canada had just 44 percent.
Price controls would lead to fewer new medicines
In fact, a study by the Council of Economic Advisors estimated that price controls could lead to 100 fewer lifesaving medicines over the next decade and could reduce life expectancy of the average American by four months.
The need for strong medical innovation should be clear to all in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. U.S. manufacturers succeeded in developing vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 at some of the fastest rates ever. Price controls would disrupt this medical innovation and threaten our ability to fight future pandemics.
Price controls will threaten high-paying manufacturing jobs
Medical innovation directly and indirectly supports over four million jobs across the U.S and in every state, according to research by TEconomy Partners, LLC. These are high-paying, quality jobs – the average annual wage of a pharmaceutical worker in 2017 was $126,587, more than double the average private sector wage of $60,000.