Report ranks states on average prescription spending - Entrepreneur Generations

States with top 10 average yearly per-capita
expenditure on prescriptions. (The Senior List)

A new data analysis shows how much the average resident in each state spends on prescription medications every year. Delaware took the top spot, with an average per-capita expenditure of $2,331.13, and California came in last with $1,033.57, according to The Senior List. The report analyzed data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, GoodRx and the National Conference on State Legislatures. 

Residents in Ohio Valley and Black Belt states figured heavily in the top 10 (see chart at left), as did Washington, D.C., Connecticut and Illinois. That's because those residents may have more chronic, rare, or otherwise expensive-to-treat health conditions. 

Whatever the cause, Americans are spending far more on prescriptions these days than in years past. In 2017, the average American spent $1,025 per year on prescriptions--a 1,000% increase over the average $90 (adjusted for inflation) Americans spent in 1960. An aging population factors into this: almost half of Americans take at least one prescription medication, but for seniors it's nearly 90%.

Prescription costs are taking a financial toll on some; about 1 in 4 Americans say they're having a hard time affording their prescriptions. Part of the problem is that the U.S. pays more for the same drugs than other countries do. A month's supply of the popular blood thinner Humira, for example, costs $882 in Switzerland, $1,362 in the United Kingdom, and $2,669 in the United States.

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2YSC6Jz Report ranks states on average prescription spending - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

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