Yes–Prescription Costs are Much Higher in the United States

January 29, 2021

According to a recent article, there are serious discrepancies in drug prices between the United States and many other countries. The timely report discusses both brand-name drugs and generic drugs and the authors used several methods to calculate pricing. Shockingly, drug prices in the United States are 256% of those in 32 other countries combined.

The authors remark: “Understanding the extent to which drug prices are higher in the United States than in other countries—after accounting for differences in the volume and mix of drugs—is useful when developing and targeting policies to address both growth in drug spending and the financial impact of prescription drugs on consumers. Although several prior studies systematically compare drug prices in the United States with those in other countries, the most recent of these studies used data that are almost a decade old.” Read the free report here.

(Source: Mulcahy et al., RAND Corporation, 2021)

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