Prescription drug prices have become a major issue in the United States presidential election as Democrats and Republicans have promised to force Big Pharma to lower name brand medications. However, a new report shows that the average price of non-generic medicines have doubled in the US during the past five years.

Like Us on Facebook

Last year the average price of name brand drugs surged 16 percent to about $264, which was about half the increase in 2014. Prices have skyrocketed 98 percent since 2011.  

Express Scripts released the report on March 15, Monday, according to Quartz. The company serves US health insurers and workers by making deals with drug companies.

One reason for the colossal increase in the average price of name-brand drugs was due to the price tags of many medicines being jacked up. Last year one-third of branded medications had yearly price increases of 20 percent or more. In fact, over 100 meds doubled in price.

Express Scripts reports that specialty drugs had the biggest price boosts. They include medicines that treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and cancer.

An irony is that just one to two percent of Americans used those drugs in 2015. However, they made up 37 percent of the country's total spending on name brand drugs. One key reason is that many of the drugs do not compete against similar products in the US.

Higher global spending on branded drugs is greatly due to the spiking costs of medications in the US and other developed countries. The worldwide total is projected to hit $1.4 trillion by the year 2020, and the US will make up around 40 percent of that figure.

On the other hand, the cost of generic drug prices has dropped sharply due to the market being highly competitive.  The average price was about $30 in December 2015.  

In an extreme case of a drug price hikes last fall Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 in one day, according to The New York Times. The 62-year-old drug is mainly used to treat insect infections but also helps people with weaker immune systems including AIDS patients and some cancer patients.  

This video explains the recent increase in generic drug prices: