Why Drug Costs Will Keep Rising in 2017

http://fortune.com/2016/12/19/healthcare-drug-costs-2017-predictions/

Exchange Family Pharmacy

At the start of 2016, we made 10 healthcare predictions for the year ahead. Overall, we were 50% right, which is either a failing grade in high school or a great average in baseball.

In the win column, we predicted that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would block a major hospital merger, and they did just that with Advocate and NorthShore health systems in Chicago. We predicted that the technology-enabled insurance startup craze would be a bust, and Oscar promptly lost a ton of money. Finally, we were correct that employers would become more engaged in healthcare cost management with many adding “frozen carrots,” or financial incentives to drive usage of services that lower healthcare costs.

Our biggest bust was on the PCSK9’s—we predicted these new cholesterol drugs would be blockbusters. Thus far, they have been a total flop. We were also wrong when we predicted wearables would become medically useful treatments. And, to our surprise, there were more setbacks than breakthroughs in continuous biosensors, devices such as glucose monitors for diabetics.

We’re hoping to bat above .500 this coming year. Here are our 10 healthcare industry predictions for 2017: