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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.