Health changes everything. Health is not just the absence of disease; it is the foundation on which meaningful life is built.
Americans want to live full, independent lives—showing up for family, pursuing their career and engaging in the things that matter to them. When populations are healthier, the benefits extend beyond individuals: economies grow stronger, healthcare systems become more sustainable and societies become more resilient against future health challenges.
It’s both a personal good and a critical driver of broader economic and social prosperity. Whether in illness or in health, Americans seek agency over their health decisions. Americans want the U.S. healthcare system to reflect this value by having access to effective therapies and enabling clinicians to guide personalized treatment decisions based on the best available medical evidence.
The value Americans place on health can only be fully realized when policies and systems align to support it. Americans expect healthcare coverage that prioritizes affordable access to the best treatment options available and protects them financially if illness strikes. Encouraging medical innovation while enabling equitable patient access to treatments has long been a priority for federal and state frameworks, as well as commercial payers.
Medical innovation has driven major progress against deadly diseases
Over the past quarter-century, the U.S. healthcare system has achieved remarkable progress against the nation’s leading causes of death, including heart disease and cancer.
A national survey of U.S. physicians found that pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical innovations were considered the single largest driver of improved patient outcomes, accounting for over half (56%) of post-diagnosis health gains in diseases like breast cancer, HIV, diabetes and lung cancer between 1990 and 2015. During this same period, overall U.S. life expectancy increased by 3.3 years. A statistical analysis by health economists of the factors contributing to this change found that pharmaceuticals were the second-largest contributor, behind only public health improvements such as reduced smoking and improved vehicle safety.
These findings underscore the substantial value medicines deliver, considering that pharmaceuticals account for only approximately 14% of total health spending in the United States.
What progress looks like in major diseases
- From 1975 to 2019, death rates from breast cancer have been reduced by approximately 58%, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which attributed 29% of this reduction to treating metastatic breast cancer, 25% to screening, and 47% to treating stage I to III breast cancer.
- Similarly, a series of therapeutic innovations in cardiovascular disease treatment, particularly high-value approaches to managing hypertension and hyperlipidemia, have reduced mortality from heart disease over recent decades. Many of the medicines responsible for this progress are now widely available as low-cost generics, further extending the societal value of these medical advances.
- The five-year survival rate for pediatric cancer has risen from 63% in the mid-1970s to 87% in 2015 to 2021. The 5-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined has increased from 49% for diagnoses during the mid-1970s to 68% for diagnoses during 2012 through 2018, driven by improvements in treatment and early detection.
What policies help patients access innovative medicines in the United States?
From reducing breast cancer mortality by more than half to transforming HIV into a manageable condition, the progress in outcomes reflects decades of investment in a uniquely American ecosystem that turns scientific discovery into life-changing medicines. Americans value their health deeply, and they expect the policies and systems around them to reflect that value.
To guarantee that Americans continue to benefit from therapeutic advances, policymakers must prioritize patient-centered policies, such as enabling access through insurance and protecting intellectual property (IP) policies. While comprehensive systemic changes will take sustained effort, the following tangible objectives can be advanced now:
- Ensuring insurer cost sharing reflects the net price of medicines, so patients are not overcharged at the pharmacy counter.
- Reforming pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices that create administrative barriers and distort patient access.
- Strengthening the balanced IP framework that supports the development of innovative medicines and generic entry.
When policies align with the value Americans place on health, innovation can lead to extraordinary results — turning deadly diagnoses into manageable conditions, extending lives, and enabling Americans to show up fully for the people and pursuits that matter most to them.
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