In comparison to other nations, the United States has the highest per capita prescription drug costs, which have been steadily increasing. Prescription drugs make up roughly 17% of the overall cost of personal health care services. (Alpern, Stauffer & Kesselheim, 2014). The existence of monopolies, which the government protects, drives up the price of prescription drugs by preventing generic versions from entering the market and lowering costs. In contrast to other nations, the US allows drug manufacturers to determine their own prices. Also, another reason is that Food and Drug Administration do take a long time to approve the making of generic drugs.
Some policies have been developed to regulate the increased high prescription one is “doing nothing” or “maintain the status quo.” The policy describes tending not to any action and keeping the situation at status quo despite the presentation of other options. The policy advocates for the state to remain in place with the aim of ensuring quality drugs are in the market (Muennig & Bounthavong, 2016). The government protects entry of the generic drugs by imposing high taxation on the incoming markets and setting high fees so as to avoid the free, competitive markets. There are regulations put in place to ensure the status quo is maintained. For instance formation of patents, laws against the reselling of drugs and establishment of market uniqueness.
The policy would not be effective especially to the consumers for the prices remain high. The policy does not allow the entry of generic drugs in the market which would otherwise ease the burden on the pockets of the consumers, and therefore, the expense on the medication would remain high. On equity, the policy does not portray fairness or justice to both the drug sellers and the consumers. Both are subjected to the high prices of the drugs without an option of getting low priced drugs. The political feasibility of this proposed policy may not be fully supported by the society especially the ones who do not have insurance covers on their medication. The society needs to be convinced on the essence of high-quality drugs for them to agree with the policy.
References
Alpern, J. D., Stauffer, W. M., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2014). High-cost generic drugs—implications for patients and policymakers. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(20), 1859-1862.
Muennig, P., & Bounthavong, M. (2016). Cost-effectiveness analysis in health: a practical approach. John Wiley & Sons.
