High Cost of Drugs Could Cause Over 1.1 Million Premature Deaths In Ten Years

A new study by AmerisourceBergen's research arm, West Health Policy Center, reveals that more than 1.1 million Medicare beneficiaries will die premature deaths in the next ten years due to the high cost of drugs.

The researchers predicted that around 112,000 beneficiaries would die every year due to cost-related non-adherence to drug therapy, based on the current prices of drugs in the market.

High prescription drug prices cost lives. Period.
Powerful new study from @WestHealth.
Drugs don't work if people can't afford them.
Must restore balance to get innovation we need at prices we can afford. End unlimited drug corporation pricing power. https://t.co/N4NLvga0af — David Mitchell (@DavidP4AD) November 20, 2020

According to EurekAlert!, cost-related non-adherence to drug therapy will become the leading cause of death in the United States just ahead of other diseases, such as diabetes, influenza, pneumonia, and kidney failure.

Also, millions will suffer worsening health conditions that will cost Medicare medical expenses that would cost an additional $18 billion every year for ten years.

What would happen if Medicare lower drug prices for beneficiaries?

The researchers have created a model that will show what will happen if Medicare lowers the prices of drugs for their beneficiaries through direct negotiations with drug companies.

They found that negotiations between the two parties could result in 94,000 fewer deaths every year. In addition, the model revealed that Medicare would see a reduction in spending by about $475.9 billion by the year 2030.

Timothy Lash, President, West Health Policy Center, said patients failing to take their medications as prescribed are among the biggest contributors to poor health, hospital admissions, higher healthcare costs, and premature deaths.

"Cost-related nonadherence is a significant and growing issue that is a direct result of runaway drug prices and a failure to implement policies and regulations that make drugs more affordable," Lash said.

According to the report of Common Dreams, policy changes can lower the prices of drugs set by Big Pharma which can result in fewer avoidable deaths.

#NEW: More than 1.1 million Medicare recipients are expected to die in the next decade because they cannot afford their prescription medications. https://t.co/urRXMUOiSe — West Health (@WestHealth) November 19, 2020

Medicare beneficiaries might incur out-of-pocket costs

In the past years, the prices of drugs have skyrocketed wherein branded medicines increased by 159%. Spending on prescription drugs will quickly grow compared to other major medical goods or services in the next several years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) predicted.

Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay 25% of the price of generic and prescription drugs due to the increase in prices. For people with several health conditions, that would mean that they have to pay thousands of dollars every year in out-of-pocket costs.

Sean Dickson, Director of Health Policy at West Health Policy Center and Chair of the Council for Informed Drug Spending Analysis (CIDSA), said that the cost of doing nothing is so dear when policy changes can save many lives of Medicare beneficiaries.