Price Transparency

The U.S. supply chain for prescription drugs is highly complex, involving several intermediaries between drug manufacturers and patients. This analysis estimates the percentages of drug expenditures that are allocated to each stakeholder in the supply chain, including manufacturers.

In 2022, 43.3 million Medicare Part D enrollees (82 percent) filled 1.1 billion prescriptions for generic prescription drugs. While most enrollees filled at least one prescription for $2 or less, most (54 percent) paid more than $2 for at least one generic drug. Over 6 million enrollees filled at least one prescription for over $20.

Drug manufacturers may change the list prices of their drugs at any time after launch. Over the period from January 2022 to January 2023, more than 4,200 drug products had price increases, of which 46 percent were larger than the rate of inflation. The average drug price increase over the course of the period was 15.2 percent, which translates to $590 per drug product.

High prescription drug costs are a leading concern among Americans. Americans pay higher prices for prescription drugs than any other country in the world, with prescription drug prices in the U.S. more than 2.5 times as high as those in other similar high-income nations.

Key FindingsPolicy discussion surrounding U.S. prescription drug prices focuses on whether prices in the United States are too high or appropriate relative to the benefits that they offer to patients.

This posting includes a report prepared by the RAND Corporation, “State All Payer Claims Databases Understanding the Current Landscape and Challenges to Use,” which builds on a 2021 report “The History, Promise and Challenges of State All Payer Claims Databases.” The new report provides additional detail on the objectives of and use cases for APCDs, the current APCD landscape, and implementatio

To date a number of private and public sector initiatives have commenced that rely on value-driven principles for the delivery of health care services. Given the variation that may exist across these initiatives it is important to have a good structure for examining and evaluating their implementation and overall effectiveness.

To date a number of private and public sector initiatives have commenced that rely on value-driven principles for the delivery of health care services. Given the variation that may exist across these initiatives it is important to have a good structure for examining and evaluating their implementation and overall effectiveness.

Rapidly rising prescription drug prices have caused many consumers, third-party payers, and policymakers to look for ways to lower their drug costs. One strategy that many have seen as a potential solution is to import drug products from countries where drug prices are lower than those in the United States — commonly called reimportation.