GAO Reports on Drug Pricing, R&D Changes

Retail prescription drug prices have nearly doubled since the 1990s according to a Government Accountability Office report.

GAO’s researchers made the estimate by analyzing financial and structural changes in the pharmaceutical industry and also determined that fewer competitors in the industry meant higher prices, especially for generic drugs.

Spending on prescription drugs sold through retail pharmacies in 2015 were estimated to comprise nearly 12 percent of total personal health care services spending in the United States, up from approximately 7 percent of such spending through the 1990s.