New AARP Report Finds Prescription Drug Prices Continue to Rise After Market Entry While Falling in Similar Countries

Findings underscore why drug pricing reforms should continue even as Medicare drug price negotiation reduces costs for seniors

AARP Press Team

 
Published May 28, 2026

WASHINGTON – A new AARP Public Policy Institute analysis released today finds that prices for the 25 top-selling brand-name prescription drugs increased an average of 81% after entering the U.S. market, while lifetime prices for the same drugs fell an average of 13% across 19 comparable high-income countries. The findings come as policymakers in Washington continue debating international reference pricing approaches like “most-favored-nation" drug pricing aimed at aligning U.S. drug prices more closely with prices paid in peer nations.

 

“This analysis shows that the broader U.S. prescription drug market continues to behave differently from comparable countries, where prices for brand name drugs often stabilize or decline over time rather than continuing to rise years after launch,” said Leigh Purvis, AARP Prescription Drug Policy Principal and report author. “Medicare drug price negotiation is successfully reducing costs for millions of seniors, and these findings underscore why efforts to improve prescription drug affordability must continue to ensure all Americans can afford the drugs they need.”

 

Additional key findings from the report include:

 

  • Prices for the 25 drugs studied increased an average of 81% after entering the U.S. market, while prices for the same drugs fell an average of 13% across 19 comparable countries.
  • These different price trajectories play a role in the US’s comparatively high brand name drug prices and provide additional context for the Administration’s interest in aligning US drug prices with prices paid in other countries.

 

Read the full report here.

 

Sky-high drug costs force too many seniors with conditions like diabetes, heart disease, or kidney disease to choose between paying for medicine or paying for basics like groceries and gas.

 

Following years of advocacy by AARP, Congress passed groundbreaking prescription drug reforms, which included major provisions designed to address high prescription drug prices and save Medicare and taxpayers billions of dollars in the years to come. The law gave Medicare the authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices directly with manufacturers for the first time in history, with the negotiated prices for the first 10 drugs taking effect on January 1, 2026.

  • The law also requires drug companies to pay rebates to Medicare if their drug prices increase faster than inflation.
  • It also included an out-of-pocket cap on Part D prescription drug costs, no-copay immunizations, and a cap on insulin prices.

 

AARP continues to urge Medicare to continue negotiating for lower drug prices that is already lowering the out-of-pocket costs that older Americans pay at the pharmacy counter.

 

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About AARP

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the 125 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health and financial security, and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest-circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and the AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit aarp.org, aarp.org/espanol or follow @AARP, @AARPLatino and @AARPadvocates on social media.

Media Contact:

Ilse Zuniga,  izuniga@aarp.org