ASPE Observations on US trends in Rx drug prescribing

The USA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) this week released its Observations on trends in prescription drug spending, noting that expenditures on Rx medicines are rising and are projected to continue to rise faster than overall health spending thereby increasing this sector’s share of health care spending.

Other key findings

• ASPE, a part of the Department of Health & Human Services, estimates that prescription drug spending in the USA was about $457 billion in 2015, or 16.7% of overall personal health care services. Of that $457 billion, $328 billion (71.9%) was for retail drugs and $128 billion (28.1%) was for non-retail drugs.