Content by Keyword: Prescription Drugs

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Endnotes

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Endnotes

1 - Claritin, Premarin, Zantac, Prozac, Trimox, Prilosec, Lanoxin, Hydrocodone w/APAP, Norvasc, Lipitor, Furosemide, Synthroid, Coumadin, Vasotec, Atenolol, Lasix, Triamterene/HCTZ, Cardizem CD, Hydrochlorothiazide, Zestril, Prednisone, K-Dur, Zocor, Procardia XL, and Glyburide. 2 - Analysis using a different set of drugs might yield different r
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Cash Share of the Market

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Cash Share of the Market

Cash payments have accounted for a declining share of the retail market for prescription drugs, as noted in Chapter 3. The share of prescriptions for which the purchaser pays in cash at the time of the transaction has declined from 63 percent in 1990 to 25 percent in 1998. 4 One possible explanation for some of the differences just observed could
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Prescription Drug Prices

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Prescription Drug Prices

Given the national nature of many of the major players in the prescription drug market—drugs are produced by national manufacturers, distributed through mostly national PBMs and in many cases through national pharmacy chains—we might not expect to see large price differences by region. We would expect to see small differences based on local pr
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Utilization and Spending

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Utilization and Spending

In Chapter 2, various data were presented that showed spending differences between individuals with and without insurance coverage for prescription drugs. Here we consider those same comparisons within regions. Because size of prescription may vary due to differences in local medical practice patterns and variations in state Medicaid regulations o
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Coverage

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Coverage

Table C-1 shows variation in coverage levels by region using MEPS data on drug coverage for the civilian, noninstitutionalized population. The highest coverage rates are in the Midwest and Northeast with the lowest coverage rate in the South. The pattern observed is similar to analyses of general health insurance coverage elsewhere.
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Appendix C. State and Regional Variations

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Appendix C. State and Regional Variations

One area of inquiry that is not discussed in the main report is regional and state variation. Preliminary analysis from several different sources suggests that there are substantial regional and state variations in spending and utilization of prescription drugs and in prices faced by consumers. At this point, we can observe some differences, but w
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Endnotes

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Endnotes

1 - The one exception was Medicare HMO coverage, which was identified through HCFA(now known as CMS) enrollment records. 2 -The MEPS estimates are adjusted for two reasons. First, the adjusted MEPS estimates can be directly compared to the MCBS estimates. Second, the unadjusted MEPS estimates would overstate the percentage of beneficiaries who h
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MEPS Price Data

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. MEPS Price Data

It should be emphasized that, while some aspects of the MEPS method of assigning coverage may introduce potential biases into its estimates of relative utilization by covered and noncovered beneficiaries, there is no reason to believe that chapter 3 overstates the price differences for the two groups. It was noted earlier that, while MEPS treats a
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Effects of Coverage Estimates

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Effects of Coverage Estimates

As was discussed earlier, MEPS produces higher estimates of Medicare beneficiaries who had drug coverage than MCBS for three basic reasons. First, MEPS assigns coverage to larger numbers of people who did not report having drug coverage but who were found to have a third-party payment for a prescription. Second, MEPS treats all Medicaid and Medica
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Spending Estimates

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Spending Estimates

MEPS data for 1996 indicate that 27 percent of people who used prescription drugs paid for those drugs in full at the time they received them. 3 Most people with public or private coverage pay only a copayment or coinsurance amount. (Exceptions include people who have not yet met a deductible or who have exceeded a cap on their coverage and peopl
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Utilization Estimates

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Utilization Estimates

The MCBS and the MEPS household component both involve multiple rounds of interviews with each respondent. In each interview, the respondent is asked about services used in the period since the last interview. MEPS separately surveys pharmacies named by respondents, and can thus supplement the information gathered in the household survey. Because
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Estimates of Utilization and Spending

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Estimates of Utilization and Spending

Gathering information through household surveys about prescription drug use and spending is much more difficult than for some other kinds of medical services. While most people can readily recall, for example, whether they were hospitalized in the last year and for what reason, filling a prescription is not so memorable an event. People who filled
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Establishing Coverage

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Establishing Coverage

Both the MCBS and the MEPS household survey asked participants if they had prescription drug coverage. MEPS had a second source of information: for respondents who named the pharmacies they used and gave interviewers permission to contact the pharmacy (the pharmacy follow-back), it was possible to determine the sources of payment for prescriptions
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Appendix B: Development of Mcbs and Meps

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Appendix B. Development of Mcbs and Meps Estimates for This Report

This report uses 1996 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) data to estimate prescription drug coverage, utilization, and spending for Medicare beneficiaries. 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data are used to provide estimates for the non-Medicare population. The MEPS surveyed a sample of the US civilian, noninstitutionalized popu
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Endnotes

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Endnotes

1 - The true expenditure levels may be higher than this figure considering the possibility of under-reporting of prescription drug use in consumer surveys.
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Abstracts

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Abstracts

The articles abstracted below represent some of the best sources of material found during the course of this study. The source of the abstract is listed at the end of each study summary. If no source is listed, it is the authors’ original abstract. American Association of Retired Persons (1997) Profile of Older Americans
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Bibliography

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. Bibliography

American Association of Retired Persons (1997) Profile of Older Americans . Angus D. Karpetz H. (1998) Pharmaceutical Policies in Canada. Pharmacoeconomics . 14 (Suppl. 1): 81-96. Anis A. Wen Q. (1998) Price Regulation of Pharmaceuticals in Canada. Journal of Health Economics . 17:21-38. Anon. (1999) Mail Order Drug Sales Leap 10 Percen
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4.6 Conclusion

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. 4.6 Conclusion

Comparisons of prescription drug prices between the United States and other developed countries generally show that prices are higher here. That said, we end where we began with four major questions: (1) How much higher are drug prices in the US? (2) For which drug products are the differences the greatest? (3) Why are drug prices lower elsewhere?
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4.5.4 United Kingdom

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. 4.5.4 United Kingdom

The United Kingdom uses a variety of different methods to control drug costs. The primary method is through regulation of manufacturer profits. The Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) regulates the rate of return on capital attributable to pharmaceutical sales in Britain. The government and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical I
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4.5.3 France

Report to the President: Prescription Drug Coverage, Spending, Utilization, and Prices.. 4.5.3 France

Compared to other members of the OECD, the French pharmaceutical market is characterized by low prices complemented by high demand (Le Pen 1996). Pharmaceutical firms are free to set prices for all drugs not covered by the National Insurance plan, the Sécurité Sociale. The pricing committee, Comité Économique du Médicament (CEM) sets prices o

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