Thursday, March 10, 2016

What Is Driving Up The Cost Of Our Prescriptions?

By Coleen Elkins      24-7 Health Insurance 

Health and Human Services estimate Americans spent about $457 in 2015. Meaning 16.7 percent was spent overall for personal health care services. For comparison in 2009 total expenditures were $354 Billion the percentage of usage was exactly the same. In 2018 projected spending is $535 billion with a percentage of 16.8. These number are much higher than the 10 percent the pharmaceutical industry estimates.

The government is looking at ways to regulate costs by adding ways to encourage physicians to prescribe to most effective drugs and reward the best results for patients.

Consumers rarely know the true cost of their prescriptions since it is cost shared by their insurance. Why isn't there a visible price on each prescription dispensed?  Why do we ask the costs of other things we purchase but not our medications?

Pharmaceutical company drug pricing is not regulated in any way. They are advertising daily on television to sell their products to Americans. The advertising is very expensive. Would the cost and usage of pharmaceuticals drop if the government regulated their advertising like they have for other products in the past?

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