Prescription Drugs

This Policy Brief provides a snapshot of prescription drug use and spending in 2001, the latest year for which complete community and long-term care facility drug data are available.

This Policy Brief helps fill an important gap in our understanding of medication patterns in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) by comparing use and spending for prescription and over-the-counter drugs during skilled nursing facility (SNF) stays and related non-qualifying long-term care facility episodes.

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Report authors : George Greenberg, Nancy DeLew Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

This Policy Brief offers an updated look at prescription drug utilization by Medicare beneficiaries residing in long-term care facilities and reports, for the first time, national estimates of prescription drug spending by this population. [23 PDF pages]

This paper examines by state variation in drug prices and drug spending. Variation in prices are found to be minimal but variation in spending (and utilization) are more substantial. Further work will explore the underlying reasons for the spending variation and whether patterns persist when analyzed for areas other than states.

This paper describes the work NORC did to supplement the Federal Employee Health Benefits data (FEHBP) used to develop drug risk adjustment factors for over 65 individuals with a full drug supplement to Medicare. This data needed to be supplemented because the FEHBP data did not adequately represent, low-income, disabled, or non east Coast populations.

As part of the Medicare Part D pharmacy benefit scheduled for implementation in 2006 by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA), beneficiaries will have a choice of private plans administering the benefit.? Although plans are required to provide access to needed drugs, the law does not require plans to provide equal coverage for all drugs.?