Lowering the cost of prescription drugs is a complex issue with various potential approaches, but it can be done. We must remember, however, that it starts with individual responsibility to take care of one’s health. Here are some strategies that can be considered:
Drug costs
SUMMARY: President Biden wants to lower prescription drug costs. One of the ways to do this is by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. While it has wide approval in Congress, you can bet that PhRMA is already writing checks to politicians to try and stop this logical move.
SUMMARY: One area where Republicans and Democrats agree is that drug pricing is out of control. Retail price increases for widely used brand name prescription drugs consistently exceeded the rate of general inflation between 2006 and 2020. In 2020, retail prices for 260 brand-name prescription drugs widely used by older adults increased by an average of 2.9 percent. In contrast, the general inflation rate was 1.3 percent over the same period. The US Federal Trade Commission is taking a more aggressive antitrust approach as eight US antitrust bills targeting the pharmaceutical industry have been recently introduced.
SUMMARY: Prescription drugs in the United States rank as the most expensive by a long shot, a report published this week has found, with the average cost of medications in the US exceeding the global median price by some 300 percent. Between 2012 and 2016 alone, the price of insulin nearly doubled, forcing many Americans to search for other routes to access it. But a trip to the hospital can force you into bankruptcy.