out-of-pocket spending

25% of Medicare beneficiaries reported “difficulty affording medications” in 2019 16.8% of adults do not take their medications as prescribed or at all

The amount of rebates and fees collected by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) drive formulary positions and access for brand name medicines.

I've written previously about the new generation of pharmaceuticals. No longer small compounds, medications are increasingly biologicals, with greater precision, efficacy, and expense.

A new paper from the Progressive Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, describes a “prescription escalator” to explain the apparent rising cost of pharmaceuticals. Let’s hit a few highlights