Rising Healthcare Cost Essay

The rising healthcare costs continue to be a problem in the Unites States. A major factor is the increased spending on prescription medications. This issue remains heavily debated in the political arena and in healthcare. In the United States people pay the highest cost for prescription medications in the world despite income levels or insurance coverage. The difference in prices is enormous compared to other countries such as France, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, and Germany. This problem is especially true of new drugs and pharmaceutical agents with prices that are constantly rising. There are numerous suggestions being made to combat the high cost of prescription medications. Three key solutions the Unites States should utilize that is being used in other countries to lower the cost of prescription medications includes external reference pricing, drug pricing caps, and a new pricing system that focus on therapeutic benefits. If no major solutions are implemented to solve this …show more content…
Many studies have been done addressing this issue. According to a study by the General Accounting Office, Americans pay 32% more for similar medications than Canadians. In 2015, a study by the Kaiser Foundation found that the average cost for Cymbalta in the USA was 75% higher than in Canada (Do, 2016). Moreover, in 2012 of the twelve drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for various cancers, eleven of them cost more than $100,000 per year. Overall, cancer drug prices are 20%-40% lower in European countries than in the United States. Not only are the prices of medications for cancer rising but also for other serious conditions such as hepatitis and multiple sclerosis. In fact, people with insurance are being affected by the high cost of prescription medications. This problem is causing insurance companies to limit access to expensive medications resulting in many people not obtaining