Ballardw_HA415_Unit2Assignment
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Purdue Global University *
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415
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Health Science
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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Uploaded by DeaconWorldGoldfish44
Whittley Ballard
Unit 2 Assignment
HA415– Health Care Policy and Economics
Professor Ginnity
10/26/2023
I chose to read about prescription drug cost spending compared to other countries.
Costs associated with prescription drugs have been a big concern for both policymakers and
Americans. The CMS estimates that retail prescription drug spending in the United States in
2019 was $369.7 billion, or 10% of all healthcare spending. Between 2009 and 2019, the
average annual growth rate of prescription medication spending was 4.6%, which is faster than
the growth rate of other health spending components. The absence of price regulation is one of
the primary causes of the high costs of prescription drugs in the United States. In contrast to the
majority of other industrialized nations, the US government does not bargain directly with
medication producers over costs
(
How Do Prescription Drug Costs in the United States Compare to
Other Countries? - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker
, 2022)
. Rather, co-payments and deductibles
are the patient's responsibility, and the pricing are determined by the makers and the insurance.
Patients must pay large out-of-pocket expenses for their medications because this system
permits drug makers to demand exorbitant rates for their goods. In addition, the cost of
prescription drugs is far higher in the United States than it is abroad. The House Ways and
Means Committee released a report stating that the average price of the top 20 medications in
the United States was 3.8 times more than in Canada, 3.7 times higher than in Japan, and 2.9
times higher than in the United Kingdom. Many Americans find it difficult to afford the
prescription drugs they require, especially those with chronic diseases, as a result of the
absence of price regulation and the high costs set by pharmaceutical companies.
There are various ways in which a health policy analyst could apply this knowledge. First,
they may use it to pinpoint important problems with the way the present medication price
system is set up, like the rise in insurance coverage and the role of middlemen. This could assist
them in formulating suggestions for policies meant to deal with these problems. Secondly, they
may use the data to refute the pharmaceutical industry's argument for exorbitant medicine
costs. They may contend, for instance, that the exorbitant costs associated with creating novel
medications do not warrant the exorbitant costs imposed on patients—especially when those
costs are further inflated by intermediaries.
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References
How do prescription drug costs in the United States compare to other countries? - Peterson-
KFF Health System Tracker
. (2022, February 10). Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/how-do-prescription-drug-costs-in-
the-united-states-compare-to-other-countries/
What are the recent and forecasted trends in prescription drug spending? - Peterson-KFF Health
System Tracker
. (2023, September 20). Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/recent-forecasted-trends-
prescription-drug-spending/#Percent%20who%20favor%20each%20of%20the
%20following%20actions%20that%20would%20keep%20prescription%20drug%20costs
%20down
: