Posted by Michael Wonder on 17 Jan 2019
Rising drug prices said to strain hospitals, force budget cuts
16 January 2019 - Report finds drug spending jumped 18.5% between 2015 and 2017.
Rising costs of prescription drugs have strained hospital budgets and operations, forcing health systems to cut costs by reducing staff, a new study found.
Hospital drug spending increased by 18.5% between 2015 and 2017, a rate far exceeding medical inflation for the period, according to a report prepared for three health associations by the research group NORC at the University of Chicago. U.S. community hospitals spent an average of $555.40 on prescription drugs for each admitted patient in 2017.
