Why Costs are Rising
Prescription Drugs
Nationally, spending on retail prescription drug sales reached $184 billion
in 2003.1 The top 50 best selling drugs accounted for 43% of sales.2
This increasing demand for high-priced, brand-name, pharmaceutical drugs
has a significant impact on the cost of health care in America.
What fuels rising prescription costs?
- An increase in the number of written prescriptions (
20%)
- Price increases from pharmaceutical companies and a sales shift to
higher
cost drugs (
80%)
Choose a section of the pie chart below to read more about these driving
factors.
Direct-to-consumer advertising is having a major effect in all three
of these areas. Studies report that nearly 1/3 of all Americans have talked
to their doctor about a drug they've seen advertised. In 2002, Americans
spent $80 billion on drugs that didn't exist just five years ago.
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