An analysis of expenditures on primary care prescription drugs in the United States versus ten comparable countries.

Overview

OBJECTIVE: We sought to estimate size and sources of differences in per capita expenditures on primary care medications in the US versus ten comparable countries combined: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. METHODS: Using market research data on year 2015 volumes and sales of medicines, we measure total per capita expenditures on six categories of primary care prescription drugs: hypertension treatments, pain medications, lipid lowing medicines, non-insulin diabetes treatments, gastrointestinal preparations, and antidepressants. We quantified the contributions of five drivers of the observed differences in per capita expenditures. RESULTS: We estimated that the US spent 203% more per capita on primary care pharmaceuticals than did the ten comparable countries. Despite the difference in spending levels, on average, Americans actually purchased 12% fewer days of related therapies than residents of the comparator countries. Most of the observed difference in expenditures was due to higher transaction prices of medicines and the use of a more expensive mix of medicines in the US. CONCLUSIONS: If utilization patterns and pharmaceutical prices in the US were similar to those in the 10 comparator countries combined, total spending on primary care pharmaceuticals would fall by 30% or more. Such evidence on the level and drivers of US pharmaceutical expenditures should inform policies in this sector.