According to the AARP, retail prescription prices are increasing six times faster than the general inflation rate of 1.5 percent.
The report came out of the AARP Public Policy Institute, which said annual prescription costs have soared to an average of $11,000, or about 75 percent of the average Social Security benefit.
“If these trends continue, more and more Americans will simply be unable to afford the medications that they need to get and stay healthy,” said Debra Whitman, Ph.D., AARP’s Chief Public Policy Officer. “When the price of a drug goes up, someone has to pay the bill — and ultimately that someone is every taxpayer and consumer. As drug prices continue to escalate, so do our monthly premiums and our out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter.”
The report looked at 662 brand name, specialty and generic prescription drugs most widely used by aging Americans in 2013. Following are what AARP considered the highlights of the report:
· Average annual increase in retail prices for widely-used prescription drugs was 9.4 percent compared with a general inflation rate of 1.5 percent.
· Average annual cost of therapy for one prescription drug: $11,341.
· Average annual increase for brand name drugs: 12.9 percent.
· Average annual increase for specialty drugs: 10.6 percent.
· Average annual decrease for generic drugs: 4 percent.
“Unfortunately, it’s becoming clear that we can no longer rely on decreases in generic drug prices to offset unrelenting price increases for brand name and specialty drugs,” said Leigh Purvis, MPA, AARP PPI Director of Health Services Research and co-author of the new report. “This shift has serious implications for older adults and the entire health care system.”
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