{"id":238919,"date":"2025-07-05T01:57:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T01:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/238919\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T01:57:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T01:57:33","slug":"prescription-costs-a-burden-for-two-thirds-of-americans-survey-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/238919\/","title":{"rendered":"Prescription costs a burden for two-thirds of Americans, survey finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two-thirds of Americans who filled a prescription in 2024 described the cost of their medication as a burden, a new survey from GoodRx found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor millions of Americans, affording prescription medications is getting harder, not easier,\u201d according to the survey report. \u201cPeople are more likely than ever to view their prescriptions as a financial burden. More people are skipping doses, cutting back on essentials or turning to creative &#8212; and sometimes risky &#8212; workarounds to continue their prescribed treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Survey respondents described their out-of-pocket expenses for medication as a minor burden (35%); moderate burden (21%); significant burden (10%); catastrophic burden (2%); or not a burden (33%).<\/p>\n<p>Prescription drugs are one of many competing expenses for most Americans. For many, medication costs now rank higher than concerns about housing, food and transportation.<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, nearly 4 in 10 people said they worried about being able to afford their medications, up significantly from 27% in 2024. More than half worried about affording at least one health care or essential cost in the past year.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, 37% of Americans reported taking action last year that could negatively affect their lifestyle or personal finances \u2013 and the pinch is getting worse. In 2025, that number went up to 46%, with lifestyle sacrifices common:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" id=\"rte-6c6c7820-5691-11f0-9c5c-592b22642e6a\">\n<li>Three in 10 cut spending on leisure activities (up from 23% in 2024).<\/li>\n<li>Twenty-eight percent reduced spending on food or clothing (a sharp increase from 16% in 2024).<\/li>\n<li>Sixteen percent dipped into savings to cover the cost of treatment.<\/li>\n<li>Nine percent sold personal belongings to help pay for medications.<\/li>\n<li>Fifteen percent adjusted their or a family member\u2019s employment, either by working more hours or taking on an additional job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition to lifestyle changes, many consumers took on direct financial burdens to cover health care costs. One quarter added credit card debt; 18% borrowed money from friends or family; and 6% took out a loan. The cost squeeze may be affecting consumers\u2019 health as well as their pocketbook. In 2024, 34% of respondents reported making at least one change to how they managed their prescriptions because of cost. By 2025, that number went up to 42%. This includes 16% who\u00a0delayed refills; 20% who rationed their medications; and 13% who stopped taking a medication entirely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrescription medications remain a financial burden for most Americans,\u201d the report concluded. \u201cAlmost 1 in 12 Americans has\u00a0medical debt, with the cost of prescription medications contributing to the problem. In the face of unaffordable medications, many Americans are taking their health care into their own hands. They are seeking out discount programs, using manufacturer copay cards and talking to their health care professional about the cost of care. Expanding these resources is an important first step to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitspro.com\/2025\/01\/03\/report-many-smb-employees-face-higher-health-care-costs\/\" target=\"_blank\" link-data=\"{\" cms.site.owner=\"\" rel=\"noopener\"> improving medication access and affordability.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two-thirds of Americans who filled a prescription in 2024 described the cost of their medication as a burden,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[105,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-238919","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114798149328581219","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}