Persuasive Essay Over Prescription Cost

A problem that affects more than 70% percent of Americans and costs those same Americans over $250 billion annually (Sparks 1). This controversial problem can only be described as the cost of prescription medication. Currently, Americans pay on average $858 annually for prescription medication which is more than 17% percent of total healthcare expenses (Thompson 1). That figure is more than double the average prescription cost across 19 other industrialized countries (Thompson 1). These alarming numbers will also not stop growing, “four of the top ten prescription drugs in the United States have increased in price be more than 100 percent since 2011” (“THE FACTS ABOUT RISING PRESCRIPTION” 2 ). An antimalarial drug was just increased by more than 5,000% from about $13 to $750 (Thompson 2). These rising prices caused more than 35 million Americans to not fill their prescriptions last year (Sanders 1). These facts are very alarming but should not cause the American people to worry because there are three possible solutions to this
A single government run pharmacy could revolutionize the way Americans receive all types of healthcare. If a government run pharmacy was put into place American’s would have little to no out of pocket cost for their prescription medication. The outrageous out of pocket cost would be eliminated because the government would just pay for everyone’s medications. A similar government run pharmacy system is currently set up in England. The system is called the National Healthcare System or NHS. All British citizens are enrolled in the National Heathcare System and only have to pay about $2 a week to receive all of their necessary prescription medication (“The NHS in England” 1). The same or a similar system could easily be put into place in America and could save the American people large amounts of