The cost of prescription drugs remains a hot-button issue for consumers and policymakers. The vast majority of the public views drug prices as unreasonable, and one in four people taking prescription drugs report difficulty affording their medication. Recently, the Trump Administration, Congress and state and federal policy makers have focused renewed attention on potential actions to address drug costs, including regulatory and legislative changes that affect Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance. This collection includes KFF research, analysis and public opinion data, as well as Kaiser Health News’ journalism, related to prescription drugs and their costs.
Featured Prescription Drugs Resources
What are the recent and forecasted trends in prescription drug spending?
This slideshow looks at past, present and future trends in prescription drug spending with a focus on the role of specialty drugs.
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Related Prescription Drugs Resources
- Kaiser Health News Coverage of Prescription Drug Issues
- How Does the Trump Administration Drug Pricing Blueprint Affect Medicaid?
- Medicare Part D in 2018: The Latest on Enrollment, Premiums, and Cost Sharing
- Snapshots of Recent State Initiatives in Medicaid Prescription Drug Cost Control
- Summary of Recent and Proposed Changes to Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage and Reimbursement
- Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – March 2018: Views on Prescription Drug Pricing and Medicare-for-all Proposals
- 10 Essential Facts About Medicare and Prescription Drug Spending
- No Limit: Medicare Part D Enrollees Exposed to High Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs Without a Hard Cap on Spending
- Public Opinion on the Use and Abuse of Prescription Opioids
- Searching for Savings in Medicare Drug Price Negotiations
- Medicaid’s Most Costly Outpatient Drugs
- Retail Prescription Drugs Filled at Pharmacies (Annual per Capita)
- 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey
Public Opinion on Prescription Drugs and Their Prices
This slideshow draws on recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll findings to provide an in-depth look at the public’s attitudes toward prescription drugs and their prices. Results include Americans’ opinions on drug affordability, pharmaceutical companies, and various potential measures that could lower prices.
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Poll: Two-thirds of Voters Say a Candidate’s Position on Pre-existing Conditions is Important to their Vote, More than Say the Same about Drug Costs, ACA Repeal or Medicare-for-All
About two-thirds (65%) of voters say a candidate’s support for continued protections for people with pre-existing health conditions is either the “single most important factor” or “very important” to their vote in the upcoming midterms elections, finds the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll. That’s a larger share than says the…
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – June 2018: Campaigns, Pre-Existing Conditions, and Prescription Drug Ads
The June 2018 KFF Tracking Poll examines the top issues voters want to hear candidates talk about during their 2018 congressional campaigns, including the importance of specific health care positions such as continuing protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The Kaiser poll also examines the public’s views and experiences with prescription drug advertisements and pricing.
What’s in the Administration’s 5-Part Plan for Medicare Part D and What Would it Mean for Beneficiaries and Program Savings?
With rising concern over increases in prescription drug costs, the Trump Administration has proposed what it calls a “5-part plan” that would change several features of the Medicare Part D drug benefit. This brief describes the Administration’s five Part D proposals and discusses the potential implications for people with Part D prescription drug coverage and Medicare program spending, based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
How Does the Trump Administration Drug Pricing Blueprint Affect Medicaid?
This issue brief examines how the Trump Administration proposals to lower drug costs described in the Administration’s Blueprint affect Medicaid. These include proposals to change the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, as well as other approaches.
Three firms Account for Over Half of All Medicare Part D Enrollees in 2018, and Pending Mergers Would Further Consolidate the Marketplace
In 2018, three Medicare Part D plan sponsors—UnitedHealth, Humana, and CVS Health—account for more than half of the program’s 43 million Part D enrollees (55%) and two-thirds of all stand-alone drug plan enrollees, indicating a marketplace that is dominated by a handful of major insurers, according to a new Kaiser…
Medicare Part D in 2018: The Latest on Enrollment, Premiums, and Cost Sharing
This brief about the 2018 Medicare Part D marketplace analyzes the latest data on Medicare drug coverage and trends over time, including both stand-alone prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage drug plans. The analysis focuses on enrollment, premiums, cost sharing, and the low-income subsidy.
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Preview of the Role of Health Care in the 2018 Midterm Campaigns
The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds health care ranking among the top issues voters want to hear candidates talk about during their congressional campaigns, with health care cost ranking as the top health care issue for voters across partisanship. However, for many voters, including one-third of Republican voters, a candidate’ position on President Trump will make the biggest difference in how they vote in 2018. This month’s poll also takes an in-depth look at voters who say a candidate’s position on health care will be the “most important factor” in their 2018 congressional vote choice, otherwise known as “health care voters.”
Six Months ahead of the Midterm Elections, Democratic and Republican Voters’ Views about President Trump Outweigh their Views on Issues, Including Health Care
Who are the “Health Care Voters”? Mostly Women, and Mostly Planning to Vote Democratic As primary season for the 2018 midterm elections heats up, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll suggests the elections are shaping up more as a referendum on President Trump than on health care or any other…
Searching for Savings in Medicare Drug Price Negotiations
In response to higher drug spending growth and heightened attention to drug prices, some policymakers have proposed allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. This issue brief provides a short history of this proposal, describes various approaches, and assessments of their potential savings from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and considers the prospects for action in the future.
