Curt-

The question is not whether drug companies will stop selling their drugs. Of course they will keep selling them. From the 2nd pill onwards, drugs cost just pennies to make. The only relevant question is will drug companies spend the millions of dollars in R&D that is required for that first pill.

I'd assert they will because the health care and pharmaceutical markets don't act like normal markets. They are inelastic.

Their is no suitable substitute for my life, arm or heart. I will pay whatever it takes to keep them. The value of my life, arm and heart is virtually priceless.

Therefore, and back to the original question, drug companies will still make their drugs. Why? Because if they create a drug that cures cancer, AIDS, diabetes or any other major diseases, people will want the drugs. They will either buy them individually OR apply massive political pressure to the politicians to require those drugs to be purchased.

Compare that to your HMO. If it refuses to buy drugs because they are too expensive, you have very few options. You can't vote the HMO president out of a job. You probably can't change HMOs because your employer only has one option. You can't buy the company and force a change because if you could do that, you'd buy the drugs in the first place.

So while many folks scream about government involvement in health care, remember our current system stinks. It is broken in many, many ways and government involvement can help fix some of those problems.