The service engine light came on and I went to Autozone to use their free scan device that checks the data port on your vehicle to identify the problem – Bank 2 Camshaft Position Sensor Failure. Part cost $65.
Unfortunately there are two position sensors on the engine, one for each bank of cylinders. And the parts catalog didn’t identify which bank was #2. And each sensor is of slightly different shape – so you couldn’t buy one and swap it out one each bank and see which fixed the problem.
Youtube had a video explaining how to dismantle the engine to get to camshaft sensor and identified the front bank as “Bank 2”. There was also a helpful link to a parts supplier where the sensor was priced at $13.
$65 versus $13 – that the kind of spread I see in generic drug price gouging on my Medicare Part D drug plan.
I would replace them both. I have been going through my truck replacing sensors as they show up. I have replace about 6 so far. A lot of sensors on cars now but Youtube shows me everything. I also went out and bought my own code reader for about 120 dollars that even has a live event reading. I am planning on buying a used 4x4 so I wanted the extra insurance.
It’s crazy, I go on Amazon and buy all my parts now. Maf sensor I think I save around 200 dollars it was like 15 dollars. The turbo sensor was around 100 dollars, Dodge wanted 350 dollars. Two wires that’s it. What a scam.
Speaking of drug pricing: one of the Senators from Michigan is retiring. There was a debate on TV tonight, between the two major candidates competing for that seat. When the price of drugs came up, one candidate whined about the EU buying drugs so cheap that USians are paying extra to subsidize EU purchases.
Carry on with the discussion.
Steve… VW parts, WOW, fortunately, my VW has not wanted a lot of them.
Well, I guess a person has to decide exactly who they want to blame the cost of medication on. For sure the US seems to have a lot of intermediaries dipping their bread in the gravy boat before the paying customer takes the hit (but, then again, I haven’t scrutinized the supply chains sufficiently in the EU to see how different they are … or are not) …but the dollar cost at source still factors in.
Should the political will be there to have the same sort of pricing negotiations and cost controls here as in other countries, I doubt pharmaceuticals…at least, the newer, high production cost items…would still be the bargains they seem to be.
The rest of the first world negotiates a 10% profit margin for the pharma corporations on each drug. All costs in but reviewed by the government negotiators.
A 10% profit margin is generous.
The US simply kills everyone as fast as possible either in the wallet or by purposeful homicide in the pricing.
The R&D costs are covered in the negotiation process.
When Part D was passed, the law was written to not allow Medicare/the government to negotiate pricing.
Imaging the outcry if a government building project was no bid just blank us over and to the tune of 1000s of percent we were blanked over.
“The rest of the first world” has price negotiations country by country that are as different from each other as they are from the USA, so I think the confident assertion that a 10% profit is automatically engineered into the negotiations might be a tad overconfident.
Too early for a game of Whack-a-Mole, @Leap1 …especially on an empty stomach. However, comparative healthcare practices in other countries…to include drug pricing…is far more interesing to anyone interested than a blanket statement of 10% profit or some other simplistic nitwittery. For just a brief intro…
I have to concede because the standard has shifted a thousand ways since Sunday. Politicians at work.
Sweden sets the reference price for a drug at 10% above the price of the least expensive generic equivalent.
Here are some other countries and how they negotiate drug prices:
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Germany
Uses the AMNOG system, which involves assessing the benefit of new drugs against a comparator treatment. The reimbursement price is then negotiated based on the outcome of the assessment.
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France
Negotiates prices through conventions between the manufacturer and the Economic Committee for Health Products. This committee includes representatives from the health and economic ministries, the national health insurer, and others.
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United Kingdom
Negotiates price cuts across all drugs, regardless of whether they are considered cost-effective.
In general, France and Japan have the lowest prices for drugs, while Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom tend to have higher prices.
US
What is the profit margin for pharma companies?
For pharmaceutical companies, the median gross profit margin was 76.5% (95% CI, 70.3%-82.7%), the median EBITDA margin was 29.4% (95% CI, 26.3%-32.5%), and the median net income margin was 13.8% (95% CI, 10.2%-17.4%).Mar 3, 2020
There is a difference between O[riginal] E[equipment] parts and after market parts. OE parts are as good as the parts that were assembled on your vehicle when it was manufactured. Now after market parts are not made by an automaker or anyone tangentially related to it. Here, quality, price, and availability can vary wildly. Many parts manufactured in China are garbage.
Where do you get this figure from? Pricing for new drugs on the market in Sweden (and elsewhere) is generally negotiated at a time when the new drug on the market is set for a period of patent protection. Which, by definition, is a period when there are no generic equivalents on the market
How can you tell a decent job if it’s information on a topic you don’t know much about in the first place?
Sweden actually has a pretty robust pharmaceutical industry considering its size as a country. If it were a reality that new drug pricing is capped in the way you say, the industry would be decimated. Unless, of course, any losses incurred could be offloaded onto a much bigger market where a parent company could make up the shortfall because there are no similar negotiations on the cost of new drugs.
There’s only one first world country I can think of where that’s the case.
That is exactly what they want you to think. But unfortunately the OEM parts are made in China also. So what you are buying is an OEM part without the OEM stamped on it.