Another Lesson in Drugs, Drug Prices and Drug Spending

4sight Health January 31, 2024
David Burda

It’s that time of year again when I try to educate myself on drugs, drug prices and drug spending. I limit my classes to one day a year lest I get sucked down the rabbit hole of covering big pharma and turn into a one-trick healthcare business journalist pony, murmuring about million-dollar pills in my sleep.

My textbooks are the IQVIA Institute’s annual Global Use of Medicines report and CMS’ annual report on national health expenditures (NHE). IQVIA released the 2024 report earlier this month. CMS released its latest report on historic NHE in December.

Let’s start with a few factoids from CMS, shall we?

• National health spending on prescription drugs rose 8.4% in 2022 to $405.9 billion.
• That’s...

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