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Four in 10 U.S. adults skip medicines because of high prices
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Health & Science

Four in 10 U.S. adults skip medicines because of high prices

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Documents & data Context piece
  • Nearly four in 10 U.S. adults skip or delay medicines because of high prices, according to a report from We Are Más and Brown University’s Information Futures Lab.
  • The report said medicine prices in the United States average 2.8 times those in other high-income countries, while brand-name drugs cost more than four times as much.
  • In a survey of Hispanics in South Florida, many respondents reduced doses, shared medicines or cut spending on food and basic services to afford prescriptions.

Nearly four in 10 adults in the United States skip or delay taking medicines because they cannot afford them, with Latinos facing the problem disproportionately, according to a new report.

The report, “The Price Patients Pay,” was produced by groups including We Are Más, Brown University’s Information Futures Lab and Patients For Affordable Drugs. It said one in five people from U.S. minority groups knows a relative or friend who died in the past five years after being unable to pay for needed treatment, including prescription medicines. That rate was twice the figure reported among white people.

The study attributed the problem in part to the price gap between the United States and other wealthy countries. Medicines overall cost 2.8 times more in the United States, while brand-name drugs cost more than four times as much. The report said Latinos are more likely to have chronic illnesses requiring continuous treatment, less likely to have affordable health insurance and more likely to skip or delay prescriptions because of cost.

Among Hispanics interviewed in South Florida, 62% used credit cards to pay for medicines. Nearly half, 48%, took less than prescribed so their supply would last longer, while the same proportion stopped taking a medicine without telling a doctor. Another 43% shared medicines with relatives or friends, and 38% cut spending on food, utilities or other necessities.

One participant, identified as Guillermo, described the price difference this way: “I cannot understand why, in other countries, I can buy them for 25% of what they cost here, in the United States. In fact, it is cheaper for me to buy a plane ticket to Mexico, go to a pharmacy, buy the medicines and return. It is crazy.” The report also cited a 2026 KFF survey, which found that nearly one in five adults splits pills or skips doses to save money.

I cannot understand why, in other countries, I can buy them for 25% of what they cost here, in the United States. In fact, it is cheaper for me to buy a plane ticket to Mexico, go to a pharmacy, buy the medicines and return. It is crazy.

— GuillermoA South Florida study participant described the cost difference that led him to consider buying medicines in Mexico.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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