1. United States
2. Kan.
3. Letter

Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anyone else in the world—up to 278% more than people in other wealthy countries, according to a study by the RAND Corporation. This higher cost is not due to increased medication usage; rather, it stems from the fact that the U.S. is one of the few major nations that does not regulate or negotiate drug prices. Pharmaceutical companies can set whatever price the market will bear (ProPublica, May 2025). This flawed system has severe consequences. Nearly one in four Americans skip medications or do not fill prescriptions due to high costs. According to the nonprofit group Patients for Affordable Drugs, insulin, which costs less than $10 to manufacture, can be priced at over $300 per vial in the U.S. Dr. Aaron Kesselheim of Harvard Medical School has stated plainly, “There is no reason other than profit maximization for these prices to be this high” (ProPublica, 2025). This issue is a matter of policy, not an unavoidable situation. Medicare should be allowed to negotiate prices directly, similar to how the Veterans Affairs (VA) system and other countries operate. Americans deserve the same protections from price gouging that are standard in different parts of the world. I urge you to take action now to lower drug prices and hold pharmaceutical companies accountable.