Drug Prices Vary Wildly Across the World, But in Most Countries They’re Still Far Lower Than in the U.S.

Americans pay more for brand-name prescription medications than residents of most other countries pay. That’s because other countries negotiate prices with drug manufacturers to a far greater extent than the U.S. does. Spending per person on pharmaceuticals in the U.S. is nearly three times the average in other nations belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

In 2022, high costs were the reason one of five U.S. adults age 65 and older skipped or delayed filling a prescription, missed a dose or reduced their doses, or used someone else’s medication. To get the medications they need but cannot afford, more than half of patients resort to cost-coping strategies like redeeming coupons or obtaining free samples. Reliance on such stopgap measures can have particularly serious consequences for older people who control their chronic health conditions through medication. 

To learn more about how price negotiations lead to lower drug costs, be sure to read the next International Insight on Monday, August 12.