Dr. Richard Migliori is chief medical officer at UnitedHealth Group.
As President Joe Biden approaches his 100th day in office this week, it's clear his administration's main focus is ending the COVID-19 pandemic. But there's another crisis mounting beneath the surface: the persistent unaffordability of prescription drugs.
The cost of retail prescription drugs increased by 5.7% in 2019, up from 3.8% in 2018, according to CMS, and costs are projected to increase by 31% between 2020 and 2025—reaching $471 billion. Meanwhile, the prices of highly utilized specialty drugs have been arbitrarily inflated over time by pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the specialty drug pipeline is only growing.
As a result, Americans now spend more than $1,200 per year on average for prescription drugs, more than any other country in the world.