https://goo.gl/6oSdXZDrug prices are higher than ever and getting worse, a new study confirms. Retail prices for some of the most commonly used specialty prescription drugs increased by 9.6% in 2015, the fastest annual change in the past decade.
The annual pricetag for treatment with those specialty drugs was a whopping $52,486 dollars -- more than three times higher than it was in 2006, the report found. That annual cost is slightly less than the median household income, but twice the median income for Medicare beneficiaries.
The researchers compared that to the annual inflation increase of 0.1% last year.
"American families can't afford to keep paying for prescription drugs that cost more money than their salaries," said
AARP Chief Public Policy Officer Debra Whitman. "These price increases are particularly hard on older adults, who take an average of 4.5 prescription drugs per month and often live on fixed incomes."
The prices for specialty drugs were far higher than for traditional drugs or generics. The annual cost for traditional drugs was $5,800; generics, $523. But in percentage terms, the specialty prices grew less than brand name products, which jumped by more than 15%. Generic drugs, meanwhile, fell by 19.4% from 2014 to 2015.
Three specialty drugs in particular had large percent changes from 2014 to 2015. Forteo, an osteoporosis treatment, increased by 31.8%. Adcirca, a hypertension drug, and Gleevec, a cancer drug, increased by 24.7% and 20.9%, respectively.
The authors justified the focus on specialty drugs by pointing to their dramatic increases.
"While specialty drug products are used by a relatively small, but growing, share of the overall population, they account for the fastest growing portion of U.S. drug expenditures in recent years," they wrote. "There are strong indications that specialty drugs will become the largest share, and the majority, of drug expenditures in the next few years."