4 in 10 Skipped Their Medicine. Fix the Price First.
By Forest Park Pharmacy
4 in 10 adults skipped, split or swapped a prescription last year because of the price.
The doctor wrote the prescription. Then the price at the counter got the final say. I run a pharmacy, and I'd fix that price long before anyone touches the dose.
Cost Got Between 43% of Adults and Their Prescriptions
KFF's October 23, 2026 update says 43% of U.S. adults did not take a medicine as prescribed in the past year because of cost. That's up from 33% in 2025, a ten-point jump in one year.
Inside that number:
What people did because of cost | Share of U.S. adults |
Did not take medicine as prescribed (any of the steps below) | 43% |
Took an over-the-counter drug instead of filling a prescription | 31% |
Did not fill a prescription | 27% |
Cut pills in half or skipped doses | 19% |
Source: KFF, Americans' Challenges with Health Care Costs, updated Oct. 23, 2026.
Round it the way people hear it: 4 in 10. Nearly a third reached for something off the shelf instead of the medicine their doctor ordered, and about one in four never filled the prescription at all.
More Than 130 Americans Told Reporters They're Rationing Care
KFF Health News spent 2026 collecting accounts from more than 130 Americans. People said rising costs pushed them to drop coverage, ration medications, cut back on doctor visits and put procedures off. The Washington Post published the same reporting under the "Priced Out" series.
In those accounts the prescription already existed. The price decided whether it got taken the way the doctor wrote it.
Fix the Price Before You Touch the Dose
I run Forest Park Pharmacy. When someone is stretching a prescription because of cost, I don't want them working out a new dosing plan. I want them going after the price.
Changing how you take a medicine on your own is a medical decision. That belongs with the doctor or the prescriber who wrote it. Tell them cost is the problem. Ask what else they can try.
What you can do at the counter today is ask for a number you can see before you pay.
Three Questions at the Counter Can Change Your Bill
What's the cash price? Say it out loud. The first number you hear is not always the only number.
Is there a lower-cost generic? Same medicine, different label, often a different bill.
Can we try a different fill size? A 30-day and a 90-day can price out differently. Ask before you leave the script behind.
None of those questions change your dose. They change what you pay.
Medicare Paid $89 for Febuxostat. We Charge $15.
Same pill, different bill. One example from our own price table, next to what Medicare paid per prescription in 2025:
Medicine | What it treats | Medicare paid per prescription (2025) | Our cash price |
Febuxostat (generic Uloric) | High uric acid in gout | $89.00 | $15.00 |
Medicare filled that generic 344,216 times in 2025 and spent $30.6 million. At our cash price, the same claim volume would have cost about $5.2 million. The gap is about $25.5 million of waste on one old generic.
Uloric was FDA-approved in 2009. The first generics launched in July 2019. Six years after generics hit, Medicare was still paying $89 for a prescription a cash counter sells for $15.
Taxpayers Covered That $25.5 Million Gap
Medicare runs on tax dollars and the premiums people pay into it. So the $25.5 million gap on one old generic came out of the public's pocket, and that includes yours, whether you ever fill febuxostat or not.
The gap lives in the middle. A pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, is the middleman that runs the drug benefit for a plan, and the claim passes through it before the pharmacy gets paid. It takes a cut of the price on the way, and the middlemen make more when drugs cost more.
We wrote more about how middlemen sit between the patient and the pharmacy in Spread pricing: how your PBM keeps the difference.
Questions People Ask
Is this medical advice? No. I'm a pharmacy owner explaining price. Dose changes go through your doctor or prescriber.
Should I skip doses to save money? No. If cost is the problem, fix the price and talk to the person who wrote the prescription.
Can I ask for a cash price even if I have a plan card? Yes. Ask for both numbers and pick the lower one where your plan allows it.
Why We Can Beat Their Price
We fired insurance at Forest Park Pharmacy. No claims, no PBM taking a cut of the price, and no plan rules deciding what you pay at our counter.
We post a cash price for each medicine, and that's what you pay. We compete on price, so we have no reason to pretend the price is higher than it is.
Sources
KFF: Americans' Challenges with Health Care Costs (updated Oct. 23, 2026)
KFF Health News: The Cost of Healthcare Is Hitting America Where It Hurts (Oct. 26, 2026)
CMS Medicare Part D Spending by Drug, July 2026 release (2025 Q1-Q4 Overall, Febuxostat)
FDA ANDA approval letter for febuxostat tablets (July 1, 2019)
Forest Park Pharmacy: Spread pricing: how your PBM keeps the difference
From Our Shelf
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Head to forestparkpharmacy.com to look at our price checker and transfer today to save. See ya.
