What Makes the U.S. an Outlier on Prescription Drug Spending?

Americans spend more on prescription drugs than any other high-income country, and they also pay more of these costs out of pocket. Yet use of pharmaceuticals in the U.S. doesn’t appear to be out of line with these other nations. So what’s causing all this extra spending? In a recent study, Commonwealth Fund experts parsed the factors contributing to high U.S. drug spending and highlighted the systems and policies other countries successfully use to control pharmaceutical costs.