43% Didn't Take Their Meds as Prescribed Over Cost. Epic's Price Tool Arrives Summer 2027.
43%.
That is the share of American adults who told KFF this year that they had not taken a medication as prescribed because of the cost. 31% took something over the counter instead. 27% never filled the prescription. 19% cut pills in half or skipped doses. When KFF asked 3 years ago, the total was about 31%.
Last Thursday, Epic announced its answer. It's called Prescription Marketplace. When it ships in summer 2027, doctors and patients at health systems using Epic will see what a drug costs at different pharmacies, with insurance and without, before the prescription is sent. Amazon Pharmacy, Costco, LillyDirect, and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs are in on it.
Cuban put it plainly: "If someone's insurance says a prescription costs $500 but they can buy the exact same drug for $100 at CostPlusDrugs.com, they should know that before they leave the doctor's office."
He's right. And good for Epic. I mean that. Putting the cash price on the doctor's screen before the prescription leaves the room is the right instinct. It's a crack in the wall.
But read Epic's own sentence again: "Depending on the medication, the patient's insurance plan, and the pharmacy, paying cash can sometimes cost less."
Sometimes. We built a system where people pay a premium every month for drug coverage, and the coverage can be the more expensive way to buy the drug. Then it took 2 years of development, and some of the biggest names in retail, to tell them so.
I am not shocked. When a pill has to travel through a formulary, a benefit design, a copay tier, and a claim, nobody at the counter knows the real price. Not the patient. Often not the doctor either.
In direct care, we skipped that part. At AtlasMD, meds are cost plus 10%, and the price is posted. When I wrote about sildenafil, our wholesale invoice was $9.59 for 100 generic tablets. The patient doesn't wait for a marketplace. They ask. I answer. Many common medicines go home with them from the office.
Picture a man with new high blood pressure. In the old system he gets a prescription, a copay he can't predict, and a decision at a pharmacy counter he makes alone. Maybe he fills it. Maybe he's one of the 27%. In a direct care office he leaves with the pill, the price, and my cell number.
I am not anti-insurance. Keep a policy for the wreck. Keep it for the drugs that really do cost a fortune. But for the everyday blood pressure pill, the statin, the antibiotic, insurance often isn't a discount. It's a toll booth in the fog.
Epic's tool will help patients inside big health systems shop smarter. That's progress. Direct care asks a simpler question: why did the price ever need a marketplace to be found?
43% of people aren't failing their prescriptions. The prices are failing them. Summer 2027 is a long time to wait for a number your doctor could tell you today.
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Sources:
Epic, Prescription Marketplace announcement (Oct 15, 2026): www.epic.com/epic/post/prescription-marketplace-will-let-patients-compare-pharmacy-cash-prices-before-leaving-the-doctors-office/
Healthcare IT News (Oct 16, 2026): www.healthcareitnews.com/news/epic-launches-new-prescription-marketplace-price-transparency-tool
Fierce Healthcare (Oct 15, 2026): www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/epic-teams-amazon-pharmacy-mark-cuban-launch-prescription-drug-pricing-tool
KFF, Public Views on Prescription Drug Costs (Mar 13, 2026): www.kff.org/public-opinion/public-views-on-prescription-drug-costs-regulation-affordability-and-trumprx/
directcare.org, Eighty-Seven Dollars a Pill Versus Ten Cents: directcare.org/blog/view/44/eighty-seven-dollars-a-pill-versus-ten-cents