With expanded health insurance and Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, drug coverages will also increase, and unnecessary regulations will add to prescription drug costs, according to a new study from the National Center for Policy Analysis.

"Sixty percent of all Americans take a prescription drug in any given year, and nearly all seniors do," says NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick. "Drug coverage is expanding rapidly and heightened regulatory scrutiny will prevent drug plans managers from holding down costs for consumers with programs such as creating exclusive networks and encouraging mail-order prescriptions."

A great number of barriers, regulations and practices preventing competitive bidding among drug plan stakeholders exist, Herrick says. In fact, there are state laws that constrain a drug plan's ability to create limited pharmacy networks, which reduce drug prices by bargaining with drug dispensers. Rather, any pharmacy can fill prescriptions. According to the Federal Trade Commission, this leads to higher drug prices and premiums.