US Patients Increasingly Reliant On Pharmacy Discount Cards For Generics

Discount Card Users Pay Almost Double Out-Of-Pocket Than Those Using Their Insurance Benefit

IQVIA has published a white paper examining the growing reliance on pharmacy discount cards to pay for prescriptions in the US.

Buyer passing cash to pharmacist in US drugstore
A growing number of US patients are paying for their prescriptions with pharmacy discount cards • Source: Shutterstock

A white paper published by IQVIA has found that use of pharmacy discount cards by US patients has grown nearly 60% in the last five years, despite the fact that those using the cards pay on average almost double out-of-pocket than those who use their insurance benefit.

Use of discount cards has risen drastically over the past five years, from 3.3% of pharmacy adjudications in 2017 to 5.4% in 2021. This growth has been primarily driven by GoodRx, the largest prescription discount card vendor by volume

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