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AARP Rx Price Watch Report Shows Prescription Drug Prices Increase by Double the Rate of Inflation

The latest Rx Price Watch report by Leigh Purvis and Dr. Stephen W. Schondelmeyer finds that retail prices for widely used prescription drugs increased by an average of 4.2 percent in 2017. In contrast, the general inflation rate was 2.1 percent over the same period.

Tyrone’s Commentary:  If what you’re doing right now isn’t bending the Rx trend, try something different.

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In 2017, the average annual retail cost for 754 brand name, generic, and specialty prescription drugs used to treat chronic conditions was almost $20,000 per year. This average annual cost was nearly 20 percent higher than the average Social Security retirement benefit ($16,848). The annual drug cost was also more than three-quarters of the median income for Medicare beneficiaries ($26,200) and almost one-third of the median US household income ($60,336).

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Tyrone Squires, MBA, CPBS

I am the proud founder and managing director of TransparentRx, a fiduciary-model PBM based in Las Vegas, Nevada. We help health plan sponsors reduce pharmacy spend, by as much as 50%, without cutting benefits or shifting costs to employees.

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