The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics reported that 49.9 percent of Americans have used at least one prescription drug in the last 30 days. And according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), prescription drugs accounted for $5.3 trillion in 2024, or 18 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
Americans consistently pay more for prescription drugs than the rest of the world. In 2024, RAND Health published a comparison of prescription drugs. Using 2022 data, the RAND researchers found that U.S. drug prices were almost three times higher than those in 33 other high-income countries.
