April 15, 2025
"Make affordable healthcare accessible for all" — this isn't just a mission statement for us at Hello Alpha; it's what gets me out of bed every morning. My own journey through the healthcare maze led me to build something better, focusing on the barriers women face when seeking care. Today, I'm pulling back the curtain on something that affects millions of women, including likely you or someone you love – the financial burden women shoulder when it comes to prescription medication costs.
The data is in, and it confirms what so many of us have suspected for years – the "pink tax" isn't just on razors and deodorant; it's in our medicine cabinets too. A new GoodRx study from March 2025 reveals women are paying nearly 30% more out-of-pocket for prescriptions than men. That translates to a staggering $8.5 billion more in 2024 alone ($39.3 billion spent by women versus $30.5 billion by men) (Marsh et al., 2025).
This isn't new. For decades, research has shown the same pattern. Back in 2000, researchers found women use more healthcare services (Bertakis et al., 2000), and by 2011, we were spending about $1,500 more annually on healthcare than men (Cylus et al., 2011).
The Kaiser Family Foundation keeps confirming what we already know from living it – women face higher out-of-pocket costs, especially for medications (KFF, 2023). When you're balancing a chronic condition with life's other demands, these extra costs don't just hurt your wallet – they can force impossible choices.
So why are we women paying so much more? The study breaks it down:
To make matters worse, the Commonwealth Fund has shown how insurance plans often have gaping holes when it comes to covering women's health services (Commonwealth Fund, 2022).
Let's get real about what an extra $8.5 billion means. This isn't just a statistic – it's millions of women facing hard choices at the pharmacy counter. It's a tax on being female that hits hardest during the years when we're building careers, raising families, and trying to save for the future.
When healthcare costs squeeze too tight, what gives? For too many women, it's their own health. They skip doses, split pills, or abandon prescriptions altogether. For women struggling to make ends meet, these extra costs can mean choosing between medication and groceries.
Over a lifetime, this persistent drain adds up to thousands of dollars that could have gone toward education, housing, retirement, or countless other needs. Yes, we women often invest more in our health – leading to earlier diagnoses and staying productive – but why should we pay a premium just to stay well?
At Hello Alpha, we're not just talking about this problem – we're rolling up our sleeves to fix it. Here's our approach:
I'm proud of what we're building at Hello Alpha, but let's be honest – tackling an $8.5 billion problem requires all hands on deck. The research points to solutions we should be demanding:
The evidence is glaring and the need for action is urgent. At Hello Alpha, I believe to my core that healthcare is a basic need – not a luxury, and certainly not something that should cost extra based on gender.
I'm asking you to stand up for what's right. Share this data. Talk to your HR department. Call your representatives. Let's demand a healthcare system that works well for everyone.
Because when it comes to taking care of our health, our gender shouldn't determine what we pay.
Women's health
Prescription Drugs
Health Equity
Gloria Lau is the cofounder and CEO of Hello Alpha, with a mission to improve access to women’s healthcare needs. She has over a decade of experience in data science and machine learning, ranging from small startups to public companies like Linkedin and Google. She is a consulting faculty at Stanford Engineering. She has an MS and PhD from Stanford, and a BS from UCLA.
