i can tell you right now, for anyone who's never been to a walgreens at 5:30pm... if you start cutting pharmacist salaries in order to make up for overall healthcare costs, beware. I know too many pharmacists that only work at Walgreens for the money. It definately isn't for the patient care they are able to provide in that busy setting. if that starts to go away you'll have a hard time finding community chain retail pharmacists, and a really hard time finding good ones.

think about it. if you start cutting the salaries of health care professionals, that pay at least $100,000 to go to school and for doctors, more. and invest 6 to 10 yrs of their lives for schooling, you're going to start losing quality.

not to mention if you cut jobs and make them even busier...Plus, do we really want to lose more jobs...

it doesnt take a brain surgeon to figure this out. pun intended. i know for a fact that pharmacist salaries were driven by demand. there's a reason why there's a walgreens on every corner now and there werent 10 yrs ago. more people want meds. high demand = high cost. think about it. if everyone who ever got an upset stomach just took tums instead of running to their doctor for nexium, charging their insurance for the MD visit, then charging their insurance for the RX, just to get home and not take the medication correctly. (guaranteed that 90% of people on nexium arent taking it compliantly and therefore decreasing effectiveness.)

if you want healthcare costs to go down, your choices are:
1. increase competition btwn insurance companies, allowing them to sell across state lines.
2. start demanding that your employeer drops you from your group enrolled insurance at work and give you the difference they pay in premiums. they'll say "no" of course, but if enough people start doing it...
3. stop running to the doctor every time you get a hiccup.
4. support caps on litigation against health professionals. yes, it sucks when something goes wrong w/ your medical treatment, but is it worth 10x as much as you'll make in your life regardless? cover the needed medical treatment. cover psych costs and help them get re-established in life, but limit the ridiculous pain and suffering millions.
5. tell your congressmen/rep that you want people on medicaid drug tested on a regular and random basis. if they're going to reap the benefits of my hard work, the least they can be is not sitting at home doing something illegal. i'd lose my job for doing drugs and getting caught. shouldnt they at least lose the free ride? basically they are getting paid...so it is like a job for them...
6. require people to have a real emergency to use the ER. sorry, but i have access to see what people are admitted to the ER for. you'd be shocked at how many are: "sore throat," "back pain," "cough/fever." oh, and how many of them got a ride to and from the ER in an ambulance b/c they called 911 about their "emergency." oh, and they dont have to pay for it either, you've got that one covered. wait til morning and see the doctor or use a clinic if you really need a doctor... not the er.
7. start paying CASH for your doctor visit. buy a catastrophic insurance plan that will cover you in case of a stroke or MI and then pay cash for everything else. call around and ask the doctors if they give a cash discount. you'd be surprised at how many will be willing to take on an patient that will pay for their visit up front and they dont have to mess w/ the insurance paperwork. if you dont see the MD often, this could save you over the course of the year anyway. although, you will then be branded as an "un-insured" american and therefore be part of the people we're all supposedly trying to "save" now.
8. think about real solutions instead of buying into the class-warefare rhetoric thats been going around lately. sorry, rich people provide jobs to everyone else. i will stand by this until i get a knock on my door from a homeless guy who's offering me a 40hr/week + 401K package. until then i will either choose to work for someone who's richer than i am or will venture out on my own business and try to become that rich guy. economics and capitalism work so long as our brains are turned on too.

I agree that drug companies charge a lot for medications. Some times it is warranted. By the time the drug comes on the market they may have been working on it for 15-20 years and have spent millions in production already. To top it off, another company is using their info to make a generic that will be able to come out in a year b/c it took so long to produce the drug. But, if we want new drugs for diseases we can't currently treat...if we want people researching cures for cancer, etc. Who do you think is going to do that?

If you think healthcare costs too much, quit using the healthcare system. Go to school yourself to know how to treat yourself and then research how to make the medication to treat yourself and how to dose the medication, etc.