PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Prescription drug inflation slows

  • July 25, 2019
  • Michael Mandel

In the first half of 2019, the consumer price index for prescription drugs fell by 0.8% compared to the first half of 2018.  That’s the first year-over-year decline in prescription drug prices since the mid-1970s, according to BLS data.

Looking at five-year inflation rates,  the consumer price index for prescription drugs rose at a 2.7% rate from 2014 to 2019, based on the first six months of this year (see chart below).  This represents the slowest rate of prescription drug inflation in forty years, according to BLS data.

We also note that prescription drug inflation is now only slightly above core CPI inflation, which is running at a 2.0% pace from 2014-2019.

That doesn’t let the pharma industry off the hook for the behavior of bad actors,  especially as we learn more about the opioid epidemic. But it does suggest that the problem of drug pricing may be a bit more complicated than it seems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Work

Press Release  |  June 26, 2025

New PPI Report Finds GOP’s Medicaid Cuts Reckless and Wasteful

  • Alix Ware
Publication  |  June 26, 2025

The High Cost of Republican Medicaid “Savings”

  • Alix Ware
Blog  |  May 21, 2025

Republicans Surrender the War on Cancer

  • Alix Ware
Blog  |  May 19, 2025

The Media’s Misguided Coverage of Smoke-Free Nicotine Products

  • Lindsay Mark Lewis
Blog  |  December 9, 2024

Why the U.S. Senate Should Reject RFK Jr.

  • Daphne Hansell
Press Release  |  October 21, 2024

New PPI Report Proposes Solutions to Reduce Health Care Costs for Working Americans

  • Erin Delaney
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2025 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings