What does a new healthcare reform effort in Germany have to do with American patients? Quite a lot, actually.
The German government is looking to cut healthcare spending by tens of billions of euros. To that end, it is pushing pharmaceutical companies to accept significantly lower prices for new medicines.
That may help Germany balance its books. But it comes at a cost to American patients and pharmaceutical innovation. It’s also fundamentally unfair to the United States.
Germany’s approach to drug pricing is a textbook example of how developed nations shift the cost of medical progress onto American patients.