8265405611_337b629f7f_b

US prescription drug net costs rose three times faster than inflation from 2007 to 2018

pharmafile | March 5, 2020 | News story | Business Services Big Pharma, Trump drug prices, US Drug prices, drug prices, us drugs 

The nest cost of prescription drugs rose over three times faster than the rate of inflation over the course of a decade, according to a new study that is the first to report trends to net drug costs for all brand-name drugs in the US.

The study, published in JAMA, was one of three papers released by the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing (CP3) at the University of Pittsburgh’s Health Policy Institute. The team used revenue and usage data for 602 brand name drugs to track net and list prices from 2007 to 2018.

Net prices in particular, which account for manufacturer discounts, rebates and coupon cards, increased by 60%, which is 3.5 times general inflation. These began to level off in 2015 but this does not mean prescription drugs became more affordable. This is because most discounts to net prices mostly consist of rebates paid to public and private insurers and don’t affect what patients usually pay.

Walid Gellad M.D., the senior author of the paper, commented on his work and said: “We’re seeing a lot of discussion that net prices have stabilized over the last few years, and that does appear to be the case. But the stabilization of net price comes on top of large increases over the last decade, many times faster than inflation, for products that have not changed over this time period. In addition, this net price is an average, with substantial variability across payers and drugs.”

Conor Kavanagh

 

Related Content

Report finds NHS may miss out on new drugs due to rising costs

Figures from a team at the University of York, the London School of Economics and …

donald_trump_29496131773

Trump signs order to start a process to lower US drug prices

President Trump has signed an executive order that could cut drug prices by tying them …

450px-official_portrait_of_owen_smith_crop_2_1

Former MP and Labour leadership candidate joins Bristol Myers Squibb

Owen Smith, the former Labour MP and leadership candidate, has joined Bristol Myers Squibb as …

Latest content