GoodRx Report Reveals Striking Gender Divide in Prescription Medication Spending

About this update from Goodrx Holdings, Inc.

[{"type":"text","content":"\nWomen Spent $8.8 Billion More than Men in 2024, with Women Ages 18-44 Facing the Steepest Out-of-Pocket Cost Disparity\n\n SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nGoodRx (Nasdaq: GDRX), the leading platform for medication savings in the U.S., today released a new report, The Prescription Drug Gender Divide, detailing how women shoulder a significantly greater out-of-pocket cost burden than men. The data shows that in 2024, women spent $8.8 billion – or 30% – more than men on out-of-pocket prescription costs. Combined with the common responsibilities of managing a career, family planning, and caregiving, women are left frustrated with the financial pressure required to maintain their health.\n\nThough the “pink tax” is often thought about as higher prices on consumer goods, the research suggests that it also manifests itself in the hidden costs of healthcare. Higher healthcare utilization, higher rates of chronic conditions, and spending on female-specific conditions like women’s fertility and menopause contribute to this imbalance. Women are filling more prescriptions than men, but forgoing treatment isn’t more cost effective in the long run, either. If left untreated, many of the conditions women are proactively managing can be debilitating, interrupting their lives and work, and necessitating more serious and expensive medical interventions down the line.\n\nHighlights from the new report include:\n\n\nWomen spent almost $40 billion in total out-of-pocket prescription costs in 2024: Women spent 30% more out-of-pocket than men last year, a trend that has remained consistent over recent years.\n\n\nOut-of-pocket spending on female-specific conditions exceeded $1.5 billion in 2024: Menopause treatments, for example, cost an average of $16.95 per prescription. Conditions that demand specialized treatments, like endometriosis and morning sickness, require an even more substantial spend ($29.38 and $37.87 per prescription, respectively).\n\n\nThe gender gap is largest for women ages 18 to 44: Women ages 18 to 44 spend up to 64% more out-of-pocket on medications than men of the same age group. As they age, the gap gets smaller. Women ages 45 to 64 spent 35.3% more than men in 2024, and women over 65 spent 16.5% more.\n\n\nWomen significantly outspend men on mental health treatments. Women spend 113% more out-of-pocket on depressio...

More updates from Goodrx Holdings, Inc.