A Painful Pill to Swallow: U.S. vs. International Prescription Drug Prices

"Americans pay on average nearly four times more for drugs than other countries – in some cases, 67 times more for the same drug.

The United States (U.S.) spent $457 billion in 2016 on combined retail (dispensed at the pharmacy) and non-retail (dispensed in physician offices) drugs.1 Medicare alone spent nearly $130 billion on prescription drugs that year, $99.5 billion of which was for Part D pharmacy drugs and $29.1 billion of which was for Part B physician-administered drugs.2 In the five years between 2011 and 2016, drug spending nationwide grew by 27 percent – more than 2.5 times the rate of growth in inflation.3 According to a 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 79 percent of Americans believe the costs of prescription drugs are unreasonable – and 26 percent are worried they cannot afford the prescription drugs they need.

Given the rise in prescription drug costs and the associated out-of-pocket burden on consumers, U.S. policymakers and experts are considering models that successfully lower costs. This report examines patterns of drug pricing in the U.S. relative to other international comparator countries through a six-part analysis examining price differentials among 79 drugs sold in 11 countries and the U.S. in 2017 and 2018. The non-U.S. comparators in our analysis were: the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, Ontario, Australia, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland..."
Prescription drugs

2008 Green Book
"Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), today announced the release of the 2008 edition of “Background Material and Data on the Programs within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means,” informally known as the Green Book.

The Green Book provides updated data and information on programs within the Committee’s jurisdiction, such as Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Foster Care and welfare. Additionally, it includes a discussion of related issues, such as the well-being of the elderly and of children and families. Since its first publication in 1981, the Green Book has become a valued reference guide for legislators, administrators, researchers and interested citizens.

Upon completion, individual chapters of this volume will be accessible on the Committee’s website (http://waysandmeans.house.gov ). The first of these completed sections, Child Support Enforcement Program, was posted today. Once all sections have been completed, a printed edition of the entire book will be made available for purchase from the Government Printing Office."