America spends more on pharmaceuticals than any other country

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/americans-spend-much-more-pharmaceuticals

This is interesting data, especially because in the United States, we are one of only TWO countries who allow mainstream media to  advertise pharmaceutical drugs to the population, and notoriously we pay more for the same drugs than other countries do.  Look at the average price in 2019 dollars that were spent in prescription drugs alone!

Part of this is government spending and health insurance driven. Government and government-mandated insurance covered 55 percent of total pharmaceutical spending across OECD nations, with the share as high as 80 percent in Germany and France. That number was 70 percent in the United States. Across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, out-of-pocket spending often hovered around 50 percent, hitting as much as 97 percent in Costa Rica.  It it any wonder that Costa Rica (CR on the above map) spends the LEAST amount of money on pharmaceuticals?  And has nearly equal spending in prescription versus over the counter medications?  When corporate healthcare doesn’t have their money making power involved, it is a whole different ballgame.

Here is another look at a more detailed graph of pharmaceutical spending.  Same year, 2019.  The dollar amount the USA spends is nearly DOUBLE the next closest country (Germany).

Of further interest here is the government spending that goes into each countries pharmaceutical expenses.  So it goes a little something like this.  Government and pharma decide together how much money they want to make off meds.  They crank up the price here in the USA, insurance pays larger amounts here in the US to cover the drug, and pharma/government makes profit.  Insurance is in on the game as well, because the over-inflated values of the drug are profitable.

Everyone who wants government subsidized healthcare should have a long look at what the breakdown is in THOSE countries for the out of pocket and government contribution to the payment of pharmaceuticals.  That is a whole other topic of discussion, but subsidized healthcare is not a positive benefit to the public.