HealthIT Answers February 3, 2022
By Nick van Terheyden aka Dr Nick, Principal, ECG Management Consulting
Drug prices in the United States are the highest in the world. How high? Based on a 2021 RAND study, the US pays 256% more than the combined pricing of 32 countries.
It’s not because patients in the US are being prescribed higher-quality drugs; the medications are the same across the board. It’s not about quantity, either; utilization rates aren’t substantially different in the US compared with many other countries. Nor is it because US patients are consuming brand-name medications that are still under patent—in the US, generics make up 84% of total pharmaceutical market (in terms of utilization, not spending).
There’s no simple, singular reason for the discrepancy,...
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