The difference is governments don't have competition. If you play hardball with a drug company in the US, one of the reasons they can walk away is there are other insurance companys to which they can sell their drugs.
And insurance companies can't throw drug company officers in jail.
> The difference is governments don't have competition.
There are many governments in the world. If one government plays hardball with a drug company, drug company can go find a different government, or negotiate with private insurers in that same country. Yes, private insurers exist even in countries that provide basic healthcare to all their citizens. [0]
> And insurance companies can't throw drug company officers in jail.
Show me where this has happened. This scaremongering and black-ops has nothing to do with the practice of negotiating price. There are many people that wish Martin Shkreli went to jail for gouging AIDS patients, but that's not happening.