James Carville, a longtime adviser to former President Bill Clinton, coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid,” to capture voters’ anxiety about their personal finances, jobs, and the cost of living. That same anxiety exists today, and employers, employees, and patients are looking for relief.
Right now, far too many Americans are being priced out of the medications they need. After years of rampant healthcare inflation, employers, workers, and patients are feeling the strain. In the private employer marketplace, where more than 160 million people receive their healthcare benefits, Mercer projects that the average total health benefit cost per employee will rise around 6.5% in 2026. That’s the largest increase in more than a decade. Those costs will come in the form of higher premiums, steeper deductibles, and rising out-of-pocket burdens for workers and families, with drug prices being a prominent feature of that increase. Today, more than 24 cents of every premium dollar goes toward prescription drugs.
