Saum Sutaria, M.D.

as it is in the United States, which chronic illness, the cost of those GLP drugs might not be projected to be so high because less people would need them. And we can get into that a little bit around healthcare policy and what the national objectives for health would be. But you have common drugs now for common conditions. that are extraordinarily expensive.

as it is in the United States, which chronic illness, the cost of those GLP drugs might not be projected to be so high because less people would need them. And we can get into that a little bit around healthcare policy and what the national objectives for health would be. But you have common drugs now for common conditions. that are extraordinarily expensive.

I mean, there are alternatives that are much cheaper that might do a significant fraction, if not for many people, all of the job. Metformin would be a simple, generic example that might take care of many of those things for people at a price point that's a thousandth of what.

I mean, there are alternatives that are much cheaper that might do a significant fraction, if not for many people, all of the job. Metformin would be a simple, generic example that might take care of many of those things for people at a price point that's a thousandth of what.

But nevertheless, you have this innovation and you have also a culture that's obsessed with things like medical approaches to weight loss and that has proven to be difficult to achieve through other means.

But nevertheless, you have this innovation and you have also a culture that's obsessed with things like medical approaches to weight loss and that has proven to be difficult to achieve through other means.

Well, remember, there's one thing that's important to understand is that the Medicare Modernization Act that was passed in circa 2000, okay, which we've talked about some of the other aspects of it, forbade HHS from negotiating for drugs as an entity as CMS. I mean, we legislated that.

Well, remember, there's one thing that's important to understand is that the Medicare Modernization Act that was passed in circa 2000, okay, which we've talked about some of the other aspects of it, forbade HHS from negotiating for drugs as an entity as CMS. I mean, we legislated that.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in the Biden administration, has cracked that door open a bit for negotiation because the dynamics of drug pricing, the nature of the drugs.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in the Biden administration, has cracked that door open a bit for negotiation because the dynamics of drug pricing, the nature of the drugs.

Explicitly.

Explicitly.

Well, how it came about in the lobby, I don't know the details, but it was an absolute direct concession that forbade HHS from negotiating this.

Well, how it came about in the lobby, I don't know the details, but it was an absolute direct concession that forbade HHS from negotiating this.

Well, there were a whole set of other things that were part of the Medicare Modernization Act that we talked about, like Medicare Advantage was created and scaled up, which created a way to potentially have managed care, maybe manage the utilization of drugs, and therefore maybe curb the expenditures, create formularies.

Well, there were a whole set of other things that were part of the Medicare Modernization Act that we talked about, like Medicare Advantage was created and scaled up, which created a way to potentially have managed care, maybe manage the utilization of drugs, and therefore maybe curb the expenditures, create formularies.

that might encourage people to use generics rather than branded drugs if they were equivalent. There were other mechanisms put in place to try to control what people did understand as rising drug costs. They've just risen more substantially in the future. Again, I go back to context at the time, what should have been well-intended, and what were the unpredictable consequences in some ways.

that might encourage people to use generics rather than branded drugs if they were equivalent. There were other mechanisms put in place to try to control what people did understand as rising drug costs. They've just risen more substantially in the future. Again, I go back to context at the time, what should have been well-intended, and what were the unpredictable consequences in some ways.

I mean, we live in a political system in which our representatives that we elect vote for us, and they are subject to lobbying. That's the nature you would hope that that would be superseded by good policy decisions at some point in time. And I'm not saying Medicare Modernization Act wasn't a good policy decision, but I don't think it was a predicted effect what would happen.

I mean, we live in a political system in which our representatives that we elect vote for us, and they are subject to lobbying. That's the nature you would hope that that would be superseded by good policy decisions at some point in time. And I'm not saying Medicare Modernization Act wasn't a good policy decision, but I don't think it was a predicted effect what would happen.