Posted on May 6, 2010 12:39
Categories: Legislative and Regulatory Issues
Topics: Access/Barriers | Health Care Reform | Legislation (National) | Prescription Drugs | Treatment
On April 20, Express Scripts presented its annual Drug Trend Report for 2009. For the first time the report examined the behaviors of consumers, rather than market forces, that influence wasteful spending on prescription drugs. The report estimates that there is $163 billion annually in wasteful spending on pharmaceutical drugs, and that much of the wasteful spending on prescription drugs could be mitigated by patients taking their medication as it is prescribed, patients and providers choosing generics and other low-cost alternatives to more expensive medications, and patients having their prescriptions delivered to their homes. Express Scripts found that drug prices increased 9.1 percent this year.
From the report:
From a plan sponsor’s viewpoint, the pharmaceutical landscape grew even more uncertain and complex in 2009. As the healthcare reform debate raged in Congress, the struggling economy affected healthcare decisions for a growing number of individuals. At the same time, the federal government enacted legislation to improve healthcare efficiency; personalized medical care inched closer to mainstream practice; two very different kinds of epidemics impacted both short-term and long-term drug utilization; and the settlement of a lawsuit brought greater attention to drug pricing in the United States.
Full report: 2009 Drug Trend Report: Solving for America's $163 Billion in Pharmacy-Related Waste (PDF | 4.6 MB)
Express Scripts. (2010). 2009 drug trend report: solving for America's $163 billion in pharmacy-related waste. Miller, S., Cox, E., Nease, B., Seiz, B., Svirnovskiy,Y., Behm, A., Peterson, C., Tharaldson, A., and Visaria, J.
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