Nexium, Advair led Medicare drug spending in 2013 -officials (updated)
30/04/2015 21:50
(New throughout, adds more prescribing data and details of
neurology drug price rise)
By Sharon Begley
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Four brand-name medications
accounted for almost one-tenth of the $103 billion in
prescriptions filled by older or disabled Americans under
Medicare's drug program in 2013, U.S. officials reported on
Thursday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said
AstraZeneca Plc's AZN.L Nexium "purple pill" for acid reflux
topped the list with prescriptions totaling $2.5 billion,
followed by $2.3 billion for GlaxoSmithKline Plc's GSK.L
inhaled Advair for asthma.
Third was AstraZeneca's cholesterol-lowering Crestor with
$2.2 billion of prescriptions, while Otsuka Corp's 4768.T
anti-psychotic Abilify was fourth with $2.1 billion.
The data cover prescriptions filled under Medicare's drug
program, called Part D, and is the first time it has been
released. The costs include co-payments by patients as well as
what Medicare paid, but not manufacturer rebates.
Part D went into effect in 2006 as part of the
government-run insurance program for disabled Americans and
those 65 and over. In 2013, 35.7 million beneficiaries (68
percent of all Medicare patients) were enrolled in Part D, which
is run by private health insurers led by UnitedHealth Group Inc
UNH.N and Humana Inc HUM.N .
The data include number of prescriptions filled, total days
supply for these prescriptions, and their total cost. They also
include prescription information for about 1 million healthcare
providers.
Although the 10 most-prescribed drugs were all branded
medications, the top 10 by number of claims were all generics.
The most-prescribed Medicare drug was lisinopril, which
treats hypertension, with 36.9 million prescriptions. It was
followed by the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastin with 36.7
million and the thyroid drug levothyroxine with 35.2 million.
In releasing the data, officials touted their efforts at
transparency, and said they hoped researchers would mine the
data.
"There are many, many smart minds in this country," Sean
Cavanaugh, CMS deputy administrator, told reporters on Thursday,
"and we want to unleash them on this data."
CMS's analysis found that, among specialties,
family-practice doctors had the lowest drug costs, at $56 per
prescription. Oncologists had the highest costs at $550 per
prescription, followed by neurologists at $252, reflecting the
high prices of cancer and neurology drugs.
A study next month in Neurology describes the "alarming
rise" in the cost of drugs for multiple sclerosis, for instance.
Several now cost $60,000 a year after price rises of 20 to 30
percent per year from 1993 to 2013, something pharmacy professor
and study author Daniel Hartung of Oregon State University
called "inexplicable."
(Reporting by Sharon Begley; Editing by Alan Crosby and David
Gregorio)
((Sharon.Begley@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-4876; Reuters
Messaging: sharon.begley.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: USA HEALTHCARE/MEDICARE