The U.S. Healthcare system is the most successful industry in the entire world. Other industries worldwide view it as THE ROLE MODEL for how to build a strong and vibrant business. Under the circumstances, it is insane to even contemplate the idea of “reform.”
Here’s a perfect example. The company Forest Laboratories apparently figured out how to get TOP DOLLAR for their antidepressants Lexapro and Celexa, even though they were, according to the New York Times, “no more effective than older drugs sold at a fraction of the cost.”
According to a civil lawsuit filed in Boston, rather than dropping the price of those drugs to match the competition, those clever marketers at Forest allegedly kept their margins high by paying kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe the medicine to children.
Now that’s what I call free enterprise!
This truly excellent marketing concept came to light when one of Forest’s marketing plans accidentally fell into the hands of those meddlers in Washington, who (being Washington elites) failed to realize the utter brilliance of the plan.
Incredibly, the U.S. government seems to determined to stamp out marketing innovation in the healthcare field. For example, some idiot government agency is forcing the drug maker Pfizer to pay $2.3 billion simply for promoting drugs in ways that might have unnecessarily killed people.
Can’t those Washington elites see that this is just the free market at work? When enough people died, the market for the drug would dry up, thereby correcting the problem automatically. No government regulation required!
Consider: more is spent on health care in the United States on per capita basis than in any other nation in the world. And the outcomes of the healthcare system are far inferior than other industrialized nations, even though the prices paid for health care services are much higher.
Here’s a measure of the industry’s success: Medical debt is now the principal cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States!
Now that’s what I call a robust business model. Less results for more money, and an upsell that captures the ENTIRE wallet share!
Even better, there’s no competition! Where will customers go if they don’t want to buy? A funeral parlor? :)
The only problem is that it’s difficult for such a successful industry to continue to rack up geometric revenue and profit growth.
That’s why the innovative sales tactics at Forest and Pfizer are so important. Opening brand new markets — like depressed children — and then paying the channel to sell them massively overpriced drugs… Selling drugs that might kill people in response to diseases those drugs won’t cure…
That’s the kind of go-for-it entrepreneurism that will keep the U.S. healthcare industry healthy for decades to come!
Look at it this way: today, the U.S. healthcare industry delivers half the results for twice the money. If those darn Washington elites muck things up, the industry will never achieve its goal of delivering a third of the results for three times the money.
And that would be a darn shame.
So write your congressman and senators. Demand that they keep HANDS OFF HEALTHCARE!
Sales are up! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
