Over-the-Counter Medicines Create a Healthier Healthcare System
Having safe, effective, and affordable options for everyday personal healthcare has never been more important. Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are the first line of defense for relief from a wide variety of symptoms and conditions.
These accessible and trusted self-care products provide $146 billion in value to the U.S. healthcare system each year helping consumers avoid unnecessary doctor visits, increasing work productivity, and other cost advantages.
And now, if you have a flexible spending arrangement (FSA) or health savings account (HSA) you can use these pre-tax savings for purchasing OTC medicines and menstrual care products!
Independent Study Cites Billions in Savings
In 2012, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) funded a first-of-its-kind study to assign a dollar value to the contribution that OTC medicines make to the U.S. healthcare system. Data from Booz & Co.’s research proved so valuable to CHPA members and other stakeholders that we commissioned IRI to conduct a second study with an expanded scope. This 2018 project examined the value of OTC medicines across a large set of alternatives such as prescription drugs and office visits and found OTCs save billions of dollars across the healthcare spectrum.

Infographics
Understand key findings at a glance. Find out how OTCs impact stakeholders across the entire U.S. healthcare system with billions of dollars saved.

White Paper: Value of OTC Medicines to the U.S. Healthcare System
Take a deep dive into IRI’s seminal study. Learn how researchers tapped a pool of 5000+ consumers to explore the many benefits of OTCs.

Social Media Toolkit
Care to share? Our toolkit makes it easy to share information about this definitive study on OTCs and how they play a critical role in our healthcare system.

Newsroom
Find additional materials of interest regarding this research and other related OTC statistics, as well as CHPA contacts for further information.