The issue has global implications. Since the development of the new anti-HIV drugs in the early '90s, there have been significant changes in medical spending that health care programs, both private and public, are still trying to integrate. While hospital costs have gone down because people are staying healthier, the demand for medications has skyrocketed. Which means price increases, however small, can tip the scales for a system barely able to provide for patients as it is. In fact, a key debate centers on the actual cost of developing these drugs.
Manufacturers claim they are justifiably regaining their huge investments in crucial new research.
That means there should be more incentive, not less, to set lower, more stable prices that would bring them adequate profit return. Grinberg also asserts that the market for Sustiva is further widened by the fact that, if affordable, the drug could be used by both patients new to combination therapy as well as those adding to protease cocktails. Recently, even those with managed care plans have experienced limited availability. More people are becoming ininsured as premium costs rise due to skyrocketing prescription drug costs. Meanwhile, programs serving the uninsured are on the verge of collapse with the weight of the coming generation of HIV patients.