ABSTRACT
According to a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services report, U.S. healthcare spending reached $2.8 trillion in 2012, and the top three factors were hospital care at $882.3 billion (about 31.5%), physician and clinical services at $565 billion (slightly more than 20%), and prescriptions drugs at $263.3 billion (just under 9.5%). The expenditures for these three items were approximately $1.71 trillion or about 61% of the total.1 In an earlier chapter, hospital costs are examined and suggestions are made to improve care and lower costs. In a later chapter, an approach is described to ensure that the United States has enough qualified physicians to provide high-quality care and contain costs. This chapter addresses the third largest element, prescription drugs.
