Thursday, May 14, 2009

Last year drug costs rose for children, were down for seniors, and CT prescription use was below average

An annual report on drug costs and utilization by Medco, a pharmacy services company that covers over 60 million people, found that prescription drug costs rose by 3.3% in 2008 fueled mainly by price increases. For the first in ten years, utilization of prescriptions actually decreased (by 1.1%). Use of drugs by children grew by over 4% while use by seniors dropped by more than 1%. However spending on seniors averaged about $1700 per person compared to $200 for children. CT residents used fewer prescriptions per person than the US average, but not in the lowest category of states. Price increases were driven by the 8% rise in costs for brand name drugs, a rate that has climbed steadily over the last four years, compared to prices for generics which rose about 0.5%, a steady rate over time. Another contributor to rising costs was the approval of new high-cost drugs. The reduction in utilization of prescriptions was driven in part by the conversion of Zyrtec and Miralax to over-the-counter status. Use of generics and mail order delivery helped keep overall costs down. The authors expect costs to rise by 3 to 5% this year, 4 to 6% in 2010 and 5 to 7% in 2011. They expect an increase in specialty drugs, even higher inflations for brand name drugs, modest rises in treatment rates, and increased use of genomics to personalize therapies.
Ellen Andrews