United States
In the period 1994–2004 prescription costs were the most rapidly increasing cost of health care in the United States. These increases, which averaged 12% during some years, are accounted for by increases in the number of drugs per person (treatment intensification), increases in the cost of a "market-basket" of drugs (price inflation), and increases in the use of newer drugs over older, less costly, alternatives. Overall, experts estimate that treatment intensification increased by 68% and price inflation increased by 8.3% between 1994 and 2004.
A substantial body of evidence has documented the association between high out-of-pocket costs and many types of economic and non-economic hardship. Between 20%–30% of patients in the United States report having skipped or stretched a prescription medicine during the previous 12 months because of the cost. Other patients report cutting back on payments for their utilities or food in order to afford their prescription medicines.
Patients may be embarrassed to raise their concerns, concerned that doing so may compromise their quality of care, or under the impression that there is nothing that their health care provider can do to help. Providers may also be embarrassed discussing costs, and feel too much time pressure to discuss these costs with patients.
Read more about this topic: Prescription Costs
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