August 14, 2026
Yaroslav Shuraev/Pexels
A variety of factors are raising overall medical costs, even though prescription drug prices have fallen in the last 12 months by the largest margin since 1963.
Prescription drug prices recently saw their most precipitous decline since 1963, but that doesn't necessarily mean consumers are spending less in health care costs.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that medicinal drug prices, a category that includes over-the-counter medications, have dropped by 2.7% during the past year – the steepest decline ever, according to the Washington Post. Prescription drug prices saw their most significant drop for any year since 1963, a 3.1% annual decline.
The Trump Administration credited TrumpRX – a prescription drug website launched in February that helps people get drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies – for the drop in prices. An analysis the New York Times published in March found that medications sold via TrumpRX are not necessarily cheaper than in other countries, such as Germany.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Senior Brookings Institution Fellow Richard Frank suggested that the Inflation Reduction Act has had a greater impact on lowering drug prices than TrumpRX. That act, instituted under former President Joe Biden, required Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors, to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies to lower costs for consumers.
Also, despite the decline in drug costs, other medical care costs rose. Hospital services went up by 5.2% and physicians' services by 2.4% for the 12 months ending in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Average premiums for health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act have continued to climb. Enrollment in ACA market plans is way down this year due to an average 58% increase in premiums and 37% increase in deductibles, according to a recent KFF analysis. The premium increases were attributed to expiration of federal tax credits that were in place from 2021 to 2025.
So what does all this mean to consumers?
"The drug savings are real. They're just getting swamped by everything else," wrote Stacy Johnson, a certified public accountant who publishes the MoneyTalksNews newsletter.
Johnson offered these tips for finding the most savings on drug prices:
• Ask the pharmacist about generic options and also about how much the medication would cost in cash. Sometimes the out-of-pocket cost is lower than the co-pay required by the insurance company.
• Ask if the prescription is on a negotiated or discounted list and double check that the pharmacy is charging the lower price.
• Shop around between pharmacies, because drug prices can vary from place to place.
