$Pfizer (PFE.US)$ Bourla's argument is that prescription dru...

$Pfizer (PFE.US)$ Bourla's argument is that prescription drug prices only account for a fraction of overall health care spending in the U.S.

“The total cost of medicines to the health care system represents 12%,” Bourla said. “This is how much the employer, this is how much Medicare pays to us in terms of how much it pays to hospitals, physicians, everybody else. So by definition, this cannot be the big problem when we are 12%.”

Bourla also noted that prices have been going down. For example, in the first six months of 2021, Pfizer saw a 5% decrease in net pricing of medicines in the U.S., which is a trend that has been happening for a few years now.

“I’m sure the patients taking our medicines didn’t experience this -5%,” Bourla said. “They experienced 2, 3, 5, 10, 20% sometimes increases in how much they have to pay … for the cost of the medicine. The two are not connected.”

Insurance plan deductibles and co-pays are getting so high and they are including prescription drugs as part of them now, so might have to spend $2-5000 before your prescription coverage even kicks in. For some people the question is why even have that coverage when you'll never use it. Just have a catastrophic policy that would cover big stuff and put some money away from what you will save on premiums to cover future bills.