,Growing Pain: The Expense of Drugs for the Elderly

Growing Pain: The Expense of Drugs for the Elderly


 

Publication Date: February 2003

Publisher: Center for Economic and Policy Research

Author(s): Dean Baker; John Schmitt

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Prescription drugs; Health care; Patent monopolies

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that drug costs have risen 19.1 percent annually over the last eight years and expects them to rise 10.1 percent annually over the next decade. This paper assesses the extent of that burden by constructing projections for the increase in drug costs over the decade by income quintile of the elderly.