Total Spending on U.S. Medicines in 2012

According to IMS Health the total cost of medicines declined by 3.5 percent on a real per capita basis to $325.8 billion or real per capita spending of $898, down $33 from 2011. Patent expires in 2012 contributed $28.9 billion to the reduction in medicine spending. In the case of the commercially insured, under age 65 population, 5 percent of the members incurred 51 percent of total healthcare costs by using more than $15,684 of healthcare services per person in 2012.
Source: IMS Health