This site is a reference guide to prescription drug pricing in the United States. It covers how prices are set, who sets them, what reforms have passed, and what those reforms actually changed.

What We Cover

The US has the highest prescription drug prices in the developed world. The reasons are structural, not mysterious. This site explains them:

  • Pricing mechanics — list prices, net prices, rebates, and the spread between what manufacturers charge and what patients pay
  • Pharmacy benefit managers — the middlemen who negotiate drug prices for insurers and profit from the complexity they create
  • Medicare negotiation — what the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allows, which drugs were selected, and what remains excluded
  • Patent strategy — evergreening, pay-for-delay settlements, product hopping, and other tactics that extend monopoly pricing
  • Generic drugs — how FDA approval works, why generics sometimes stay expensive, and where market concentration limits competition
  • Insulin — the price history, the $35 cap, and what three manufacturers controlling 99% of a market looks like in practice
  • International comparisons — US prices versus OECD averages, and what other countries do differently
  • Affordability programs — patient assistance, discount cards, the 340B program, and their actual limitations

Who This Is For

Patients trying to understand why their prescriptions cost what they do. Journalists covering drug pricing policy. Researchers who need specific data points and sourced claims. Healthcare workers explaining costs to patients.

Every claim on this site is sourced from public data. Primary sources include OECD health statistics, RAND Corporation pricing studies, CMS reports, IQVIA market data, FDA approval records, FTC filings, and congressional testimony.

What This Is Not

This is not a commercial platform. We do not sell drugs, recommend pharmacies, or accept pharmaceutical advertising. This is not an advocacy site. We report what the data shows and explain how the system works.

For coverage of Vyera Pharmaceuticals and the Daraprim pricing case, see turingpharma.com.