1w ago

Sorry, America, but it’s not Australia’s fault that your healthcare system is failing you

www.theguardian.com

Sorry America, but it's not Australia's fault that your healthcare system is failing you | John Quiggin

14 comments

Nope, but Australian healthcare is looking more and more like US healthcare every day, and whose fault is that?
- NZ's?
- I bet it is the poor people who also ruining your country too 🤡
I mean you gave us Rupert Murdoch and Fox News. So it's a little bit y'all's fault.
- Nah mate. Fucker went over there because your systems would facilitate his agenda. You manured that fertile field all by yourselves
  
  It's always nice to be reminded that lying to yourselves about extremely well documented events isn't strictly an American trait
  
  Exactly. He knew where the money and propaganda would flow the best. I hate the cunt, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least slightly impressed with the empire he's built. Even if I hate everything about it.
What healthcare system?
- They are talking about health insurance companies grifting operation.
  Maybe St.Luigi bless more CEOs
What exactly is this in response to? Like the article goes over all the failings of the US healthcare system that anyone who's paying attention is well aware of, but to what end? Who was saying that Australia had anything to do with the US's healthcare system?
- There’s a good explainer article here: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/22/us-pharma-trump-australia-pbs-explainer
  It all came up in the tariff negotiations - the PBS in Australia means US drug companies don’t make enough money and/or US citizens are paying more for drugs than Australians.
  Big pharma in the US claims Australians aren’t paying enough for medicines, considering the billions they pour into research and development, and there are too many delays in getting drug approvals.
  PhRMA has asked the Trump administration to put Australia on a “watch list” and wants it to push for change, saying Australia has set the bar too high on cost effectiveness. Australia’s price reductions and “restrictive subsidy caps” meant prices were too low to support investment in innovation, it claims. There are also too many delays in approval processes, it says, adding that the PBS continues to list generic products without the patent owner’s consent.
  
  Ah, yeah, that figures.
  Fuck IP, fuck big pharma, fuck Trump, fuck Australia's govt for different and unrelated reasons.
  
  The official diplomatic response to US requests along these lines better be loud laughter

14 comments