3 reasons prescription drugs cost so much

IN-DEPTH REPORT: Read and watch the full investigation

Here are three things we’ve learned:

1. Specialty drugs are life-saving, but high priced.

As health care has focused more on prevention, more new drugs are being developed each year. That includes hundreds of specialty drugs to treat rare diseases that never before had medication available.

But specialty drugs come with giant price tags due to a lack of competition, the cost of researching, developing and producing the drug and, some suspect, intentionally inflated pricing.

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From the $600 EpiPen to H.P. Acthar Gel — a treatment for infant seizures that costs $180,000 for two vials — manufacturers are accused of taking advantage of the public's ignorance about pricing as well as government incentives meant to spur innovation to reap big profits at the expense of the American people.

2. The middlemen impact what you pay.

Pharmacy benefit managers are middlemen in the drug supply chain that most people don't know about.

3. You pay for high priced drugs whether you take them or not.