Drug Costs and Outrage Rise in the U.S.

Americans spend more on prescription drugs — average costs are about $1,000 per person per year — than anyone else in the world. It’s true that they take a lot of pills. But what really sets the U.S. apart from most other countries is high prices. Cancer drugs in the U.S. routinely cost $10,000 a month. Even prices for old drugs are spiking, as companies buy up medicines that face no competition and boost charges. While private insurers and government programs pick up the biggest share of the bill, high drug costs are ultimately passed down to the public through premiums and taxes. More than three-quarters of Americans in one poll said that the federal government should make drug affordability its first health-care priority. The matter has become an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign.