Drug Prices Fell Over the Past Year, So Pennsylvanians May Want to Check Their Receipts

With so many prices going up, a drop anywhere is worth a closer look.

National figures show medicine costing a little less than a year ago, but Pennsylvanians may not see the same drop at their own pharmacy.

Here’s how to check whether the savings reached your receipt.

Note: This is general information, not medical or financial advice. Price index figures are subject to change, so confirm the latest numbers with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Prescription Drugs Over 12 Months

Prescription drugs were 2.9% cheaper than a year earlier. That is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) runs the CPI. It reports the price change for each category.

That change is a U.S. city average. It is not a state figure.

In August, the seasonally adjusted prescription drugs index was unchanged.

Medical care commodities fell 2.7% over the same 12 months. That is the group that includes drugs and medical supplies.

Say your prescriptions added up to $100 in August 2025.

Going by the index, that same set would cost about $97.10 in August 2026.

That is $2.90 less.

That’s a national average.

A prescription you fill can cost more or less.

Here is the catch.

The index tracks more than your copay.

Over-the-Counter Medicines

Say you spend $50 on over-the-counter items in August 2025.

Across the country, the index says the same items would cost you about $49 a year later.

That reflects a 2.0% drop in over-the-counter prices. It is smaller than the drop for prescription drugs.

The category is listed as nonprescription drugs.

BLS says a drug that becomes over-the-counter can stay in the prescription index.

It stays until it rotates out of the sample.

So a medicine you now buy off the shelf can still count as a prescription.

That can last a while.

Prescription Prices Versus Coffee

In the same year, food away from home and coffee cost more.

Food away from home rose 3.4% over those 12 months. Coffee rose faster still, based on the same table.

Overall consumer prices rose 3.4%.

Say your coffee cost $20 a year ago. It would be about $21.20 now.

Meanwhile, $100 of prescriptions would be about $97.10. That puts the two 9.0 percentage points apart.

Where you live matters, too.

In the Philadelphia area, food away from home rose 2.5%. That is below the national figure.

That area covers five Pennsylvania counties. They are Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia.

It also covers counties in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

If you live in one of those five Pennsylvania counties, that figure covers you.

Medical Care Overall

Prescription drugs belong to medical care commodities.

That group is weighted at $1.40 of every $100 in the July 2026 basket.

Medical care services include hospital stays and doctor visits. They make up $6.86 of every $100.

Those services rose 2.5% over the 12 months ending August 2026.

Not everything fell.

Prescriptions and doctor visits have separate indexes.

Over those 12 months, medical care services rose 2.5%.

Prescription drugs fell 2.9%.

So the pharmacy got cheaper while the doctor’s office did not.

Put together, medical care overall rose 1.6% across the country. In the Philadelphia area, it rose 3.1%.

How BLS Samples Prescriptions

The BLS drug index prices single prescriptions. Each one is for a particular drug.

You can fill a prescription at a retail, mail-order or internet pharmacy.

The index covers all three.

The index needs to choose which prescription to price. It starts with the last 20 prescriptions a pharmacy filled.

A prescription with a higher total payment is more likely to be picked.

What the Index Leaves Out

BLS says the index records what you pay after a coupon. It doesn’t directly count what a drugmaker pays the pharmacy.

People often switch to cheaper generics. That happens when a brand-name drug loses patent protection.

BLS waits about six months after a patent expires. Then it resamples between the brand and generic versions.

If a generic is picked, the price gap from the brand counts as a price change.

A deductible can change what you pay, even when the index falls. The index tracks the total payment from you and every eligible payer.

Checking Your Receipt

Your pharmacy receipt can show if the lower prices reached you.

Do you have a receipt from a year ago?

Compare what you paid for the same prescription.

Check that the quantity matches what you expected.

Ask whether the cash price is lower than your copay.

Federal law bars plans from stopping a pharmacist from telling you about a lower cash price.

Two laws signed October 10, 2018, cover Medicare drug plans and other group and individual health plans.

Ask whether a generic version of your prescription exists.

For over-the-counter items, compare each receipt line with the shelf tag.

If you have a Medicare Part D drug plan, your plan can't have a deductible above $615 in 2026.