Santorum to sick kid: Don’t complain about $1 million drug costs

[kpete]

“People have no problem paying $900 for an iPad,” the candidate explained. “But paying $900 for a drug they have a problem with — it keeps you alive. Why? Because you’ve been conditioned to think health care is something you can get without having to pay for it.”

...............................

The mother replied that she could not afford her son’s medication, Abilify, which can cost as much as $1 million a year without health insurance.

“Look, I want your son and everybody to have the opportunity to stay alive on much-needed drugs,” Santorum insisted. “But the bottom line is, we have to give companies the incentive to make those drugs. And if they don’t have the incentive to make those drugs, your son won’t be alive and lots of other people in this country won’t be alive.”

“He’s alive today because drug companies provide care,” the candidate continued. “And if they didn’t think they could make money providing that drug, that drug wouldn’t be here. I sympathize with these compassionate cases. … I want your son to stay alive on much-needed drugs. Fact is, we need companies to have incentives to make drugs. If they don’t have incentives, they won’t make those drugs. We either believe in markets or we don’t.”

the rest:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/02/santorum-to-sick-kid-dont-complain-about-1-million-drug-costs/

[mrs_p]

1. Me to Santorum: you are a maroon

Yes, let's keep the free market going with a little incentive like, oh, I don't know, maybe, KEEPING A CHILD ALIVE. This is the most hypocritical, disgusting dribble. I truly can't believe he is being taken seriously.

[Voice for Peace]

22. "like"

well-said a little incentive like, oh, I don't know, maybe, KEEPING A CHILD ALIVE.

[gateley]

2. I'm beginning to hate him. nt

[Proud Liberal Dem]

21. Beginning?

I got there myself a LONG time ago.

[gateley]

30. I've pretty much ignored him, but this made me take note. nt

[tridim]

3. I have a huge problem paying $900 for an iPad with a 50% profit margin.

[Demonaut]

4. did he serve long enough to get his medical care paid for by the Federal Gov?

I think he did

Hypocrisy at its finest

[Mz Pip]

7. I'll bet he wouldn't be singing this tune

if that were not the case. I suspect his sick daughter's medical care runs very very high, but he's got his so screw everyone else.

[xchrom]

5. 'We either believe in markets or we don’t.”

santorum is an idolater

1 And God spake all these words, saying,
I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

[Mz Pip]

6. This is not the "private sector solution"

that the mother needed to hear. She needed a solution to her problem not an excuse as to why nothing should be done. Foregoing a $900 iPad wouldn't help this kid at all.

[tridim]

9. I can't figure out why she even bothered to ask Santorum, or any GOP candidate for that matter.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

25. I think that exchanges like these are.....ahem.....insightful

People, particularly people whom are not political junkies like us, should really know what they're getting if they pull a lever for any of these people. Part of the problem we have in our country is that most people (not us) pull the lever for these idiots and buffoons without really thinking about what they really think and and how they are likely to operate once in office.

[asjr]

11. She certainly didn't expect to be lectured. Santorum is

just like the others--a pompous ass.

[Bluerthanblue]

8. people can live without IPADs and many do- medications and health care

do not compare to an IPAD.

Now if he compaired the cost of a 'bunker-buster' to the cost of much-needed drugs, and the money that is invested in ways to destroy life that are federally funded....

[niyad]

10. my fervent wish is that all of these slimeballs end up with the lives they are so contemptuous of,

to see what it is really like.

hey, frothy, your daughter is lucky you can afford the medications she needs. what would happen if you couldn't?

and by the way, people who have to spend $900 a month on medication probably aren't spending money on i-pads or whatever

now I know why I had a headache all day yesterday

[hifiguy]

12. More proof, as if any were needed, that FrothyMix

is human sewage.

[phantom power]

13. I love to see these guys come clean about what they really stand for.

Let it all hang out, GOP! Get your compassionless-conservatism freak on!

[niyad]

14. just as a matter of curiousity, how much does an i-pad cost?

[maryellen99]

17. iPads

They go for 499-699 for wifi only and 629-829 for wifi + 3G.

But there is a rumor that Apple is going to lower the price for the 16 GB iPad 2 to 299 once the iPad 3 is released.

[Rex]

15. Don't get sick Shitbag.

Oh right...you have FREE healthcare and the best in the world! How many years did he work to get free healthcare for himself I forget?

[cthulu2016]

16. Either the mother or the article is badly confused

"The mother replied that she could not afford her son’s medication, Abilify, which can cost as much as $1 million a year without health insurance."

Abilify is a very expensive drug. Without insurance the highest does tablets (20mg, 30mg) cost about $20 per pill, which is a lot.

But to cost a million dollars a year the kid would have to be taking 137 30 mg. tablets each day.

So either mom was exagrating dramatically or Raw Story got the drug name wrong.

[glowing]

29. She was probably mixing in the cost of the meds plus the costs of the Drs visits and tests

throughout the entire year. Which, probably does cost close to 1 million a year. So, this woman would def benefit greatly from ObamaCare because she wouldn't get kicked off of a plan and insurance would have to offer something AND there is no life-time limit, which seems that her child would hit quite often.

And if no other ins company would offer her a plan, then I believe, state to state, there is some sort of plan that must be set up to be offered .. or maybe its a federal govt item? By 2014, people are going to be mandated to buy insurance. Of course the younger, healthier people the insurance companies will be more than happy to add onto their revenue stream, however, I think they are all going to deny the very sick people, and force the hand of the govt to provide a means for people to have insurance like they are mandated to... Eventually, I believe we will end up on a single-payer type of plan and that the insurance companies will come in behind as fillers... Like picking up the costs for co-pays or covering infertility treatments and plastic surgery and the extra co-pays on dental coverage... They will figure out someway to stay "alive" or they will die like the horse buggy.. personally I hope they depart like the horse buggy...

[Enrique]

18. both of Santorum's parents worked for the VA

so no one is more "conditioned" to getting free medical care than Rick.

[subterranean]

19. Fact check: That drug does NOT cost $1 million a year.

Abilify (a treatment for schizophrenia) is available at Costco for $867 for 30 tablets. The generic version costs even less.

Certainly it's not cheap, and would be hard for many people to afford, but it's nowhere near $1 million a year.

[kestrel91316]

23. Even at that price, which I assume is for a one-month supply, I know

VERY FEW PEOPLE these days that could afford that. Hell, that's most of a month's rent for me, and it's more than triple my available funds for utilities, food, and such.

[kestrel91316]

20. Santorum seems not to comprehend the difference between a one-time

expenditure on a piece of electronic equipment and a recurring $900 expense on medication that amounts to over 700 of those pieces of equipment per year.

I know math isn't some folks' strong suit, but SERIOUSLY????

[Rex]

24. You just exposed one of the best reasons he is unqualified to be POTUS

and probably would lose a job working at McDs.

[Voice for Peace]

26. Markets are friendly boisterous colorful places where people sell their goods

and meet their friends, get an abundance of
fresh air, exchange wares, haggle for prices, and more.

Evil shopkeepers in a real market get little business.
Thieving deceivers attract few customers to their dark little corners.

People don't necessarily get rich but they get
eggs, and loaves of bread.

[CJCRANE]

27. Um...drug companies still make money under universal health care systems. nt

[spin]

28. Yup. Plenty of money. (n/t)