As the nation look to slice and dice from state and federal budgets, a brief report published by CEPR today shows that state governments stand to save a total of $ 73 billion over the next decade if the federal government steps in and negotiates lower Medicare drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry.
CEPR’s Director of Domestic Policy Nicole Woo writes that the US spent over $880 per person on prescription drugs last year, whereas Canada spends roughly 70 cents and Denmark 35 cents to the US dollar.
Adopting prescription drug models from Canada and Denmark, CEPR’s study shows that of all states, California would save the most, somewhere between $3.3 – 7.8 billion.
Click here to see savings calculated by CEPR for each state.
