By Natalie Rahhal Deputy Health Editor For Dailymail.com
Published: 21:25 BST, 6 May 2019 | Updated: 21:25 BST, 6 May 2019
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Drugs are up to four times more expensive in the US, on average, than in other countries like the UK, Japan and parts of Canada, a new study reveals.
Brand name prescription drugs are more expensive in the US than they are in any other country on the planet.
Some individual drugs were a staggering 7,000 percent more expensive in the US than the same medication was in other countries.
The Johns Hopkins University study authors suggest that if brand name drug prices were cut to match those of other countries, the US could save nearly $73 billion on Medicare costs.
Drugs are more expensive in the US than in any other country, costing Medicare tens of billions of dollars and forcing US taxpayers and patients to pay four time more than those in the UK
Over a quarter (26 percent) of the federal budget in the US goes to combined health services, including Medicare, Medicaid the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and healthcare subsidies.
The majority of that allocation - $597 billion - was spent on Medicare in 2017.
Government-funded insurance through Medicare covers the needs of some 59 million Americans who have disabilities or are over the age of 65.
These older or chronically ill Americans tend to need more
