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The Danger of Managing Drug Prices

September 14, 2015

By Meghan McArdle

Ezekiel Emmanuel says drug prices are too high. Very expensive drugs, for rare conditions or cancer, can run well into six figures. What we need, he argues, is a national board that sets prices, or at least sets some caps, rather than letting the free market (and excessively generous Medicare reimbursements) drive costs into the stratosphere.

Well, maybe. But I'd like a bit more evidence before we leap in with red pencils blazing and start slashing away.

I understand Emmanuel's frustration. The market for pharmaceuticals is characterized by a set of conditions that makes pricing difficult, and inevitably controversial:

Read the full article at Bloomberg View: The Danger of Managing Drug Prices

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