High-cost gene therapies face financing barriers in US healthcare system
By
William V. Padula
Baker's choice. Dense with flavour, light on filler.
Summary
Gene therapies costing $2 million or more per patient can cure diseases like sickle cell with a single treatment, but America's healthcare system lacks the infrastructure and financing models to pay for these cures. While the high cost reflects decades of value concentrated into one intervention, many eligible patients are not receiving treatment because the system is built for ongoing care rather than one-time cures.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledWe do not lack cures. We lack the infrastructure to pay for and deliver them.
Gene therapies can now cure diseases like sickle cell with a single treatment, but they come with a price tag that would have been unthinkable a decade ago — often $2 million or more per patient.
In many cases, they concentrate decades of value into a single intervention.
Many eligible patients are not receiving them, because America's health care system is not built to pay for cures.
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