Hands holding two pills next to a pill bottle

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its 36 independent, locally based Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies are committed to ensuring that people have timely access to safe, effective and affordable cutting-edge prescription medicines when they need them, whether the drugs cost pennies or thousands of dollars.

Though prescription drug prices are skyrocketing, BCBS companies are working to ensure that members get the medication they need at a cost they can afford.

After insurance coverage, the average out-of-pocket cost for a person who purchases prescription drugs is $12 a month.

Source: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. “New Analysis Finds Out-of-Pocket Prescription Drug Spending Decreasing on Average, But More People Spending in Excess of $1,000 a Year.” Oct 2016. Web.

Insurance benefits cover more than 98 percent of prescription drug costs for people who need more than $100,000 in medicines per year.

Source: Express Scripts. "Super Spending: U.S. Trends in High-Cost Medication Use." 13 May 2015.

BCBS companies support four strategies that will increase competition and consumer choice while making prescription drugs more affordable.

Promote Choice

We support greater competition and consumer choice to make prescription medicines more affordable.

Embrace Transparency

Drug companies should be transparent and share information when pricing prescription medicines.

Support Education

It’s important to provide medical and healthcare professionals with the tools they need to support patient education.

Endorse Change

We support regulatory changes to help patients get the right medicines at the best price.

Learn what BCBS recommends to address prescription drug prices.

Read our Proposals

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is an association of 35 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield companies.