Women spent $8.8B more than men on medications in 2024: 4 takeaways

Women in the U.S. continue to pay significantly higher out-of-pocket healthcare costs than men, with a new report from GoodRx showing an $8.8 billion gap in prescription spending in 2024. 

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Here are four takeaways: 

  1. Women consistently spend 30% more out of pocket on prescriptions than men, totaling $8.5 billion more in 2024 alone. The disparity is driven by higher healthcare utilization, chronic condition management and the costs of female-specific treatments, according to the healthcare technology company’s report. 
  2. Women ages 18-44 experienced the steepest price gap, spending up to 64% more than men on prescriptions. 
  3. Women spent 113% more on depression medications and 103% more on anxiety treatments than men. 
  4. Conditions such as endometriosis, menopause and postpartum depression added a significant financial burden. Women also disproportionately pay for birth control and fertility treatments. 
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