In a recent Pew Trust analysis survey, more than half of Americans reported worrying about their finances during the past year and feeling financially insecure, with the cost of prescription drugs topping the list, as reported in Upstate Business Journal.
Here are five things to know:
1. Forty-two percent of those surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported it was difficult to afford healthcare and those with lower incomes faced the biggest challenge.
2. Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more.
3. The price of prescription drugs is set to recoup the considerable investment in research, development and testing that comes before the drug could be brought to market. According to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, the process of developing and gaining approval for a new drug on average costs $2.6 billion.
4. Competitors can enter the market after a drug maker's patent expires, which helps bring costs down and expand access. For biological drugs, this competition comes after a 12-year exclusivity period in the form of biosimilars. The Federal Trade Commission estimated biosimilars would be between 10 percent and 30 percent less expensive than their brand-name counterparts.
5. Analysts estimate this will reduce spending on biologics by more than $40 billion over the next decade. In Europe, where biosimilars have been on the market 10 years ahead of the United States, the median reduction of competition was 35 percent from 2006 to 2013, according to an IMS Health study.