Prescription Drug Costs Higher in the US Compared to Other Nations

According to a new RAND Corporation report, prescription drug cost is higher in the United States than any other nations. On Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, RAND Corporation reported that prescriptions in the United States average 2.56 higher than the cost in 32 other nations.

There is a huge gap between prices in the United States and other countries for name-brand prescriptions; the United States prices average 3.44 than other countries in comparison.

Andrew Mulcahy, a lead author of the study and a senior health policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, stated, “Brand-name drugs are the primary driver of higher prescription prices in the United States.”

This information is based on a RAND analysis from 2018, which is the most updated information on how much more prescriptions cost in the United States than other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Generic drugs are not as costly as name brand drugs in the United States, but prices are eighty-four percent of the average paid in other countries.

Mulcahy stated, “For the generic drugs that make up a large majority of the prescriptions written in the United States, our costs are lower.”

The study suggests that some nations, United Kingdom, France, and Italy, which have the lowest prices, and Canada, Germany, and Japan, have the highest prices.

Most of the high priced drugs in the United States are brand name drugs used to treat life-threatening illnesses such as Cancer and Hepatitis C that can cost thousands of dollars per treatment.

One study reported that prescription drug prices had increased twice as much as the inflation rate over the last 12 years.

By Teleza Rodgers
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware

Source:

RAND: Prescription Drug Prices in the United States Are 2.56 Times Those in Other Countries

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