Final answer:
Drug tiers ascend from Preferred Generics to Generics, Preferred Brands, Non-Preferred Drugs, and Specialty in terms of cost share. Generic drugs are cheaper than brand names due to reduced R&D and marketing costs post-patent. Anti-monopoly policies need to be weighed differently in a global context.
Step-by-step explanation:
The list of drug tiers from least expensive cost share to most expensive cost share is: Preferred Generics, Generics, Preferred Brand (and some higher-cost generics), Non-Preferred Drug (and some higher-cost generics), Specialty.
Generic pharmaceuticals are significantly cheaper than name brand ones because once the patent expires on brand name drugs, other companies can manufacture and market generics, which do not require the original research and development costs, nor the same level of advertising expenditure. Since generics are therapeutically equivalent to brand name drugs, they provide a more cost-effective option for consumers.
In considering competition within a global market, the policy of breaking up large firms that may hold monopoly power domestically might require different considerations. The effectiveness of such a policy can be influenced by the dynamics of international competition and market share held by U.S. firms in comparison to their global counterparts.