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December 10, 2014
AARP Report: Brand-Name Drug Prices Skyrocketed
Washington, D.C.—Retail prices for brand-name prescription drugs had the highest average annual price increases last year than any time since AARP began tracking drug prices in 2004, according to a new report from the advocacy group for older Americans.
in Recent Years Prices for those drugs skyrocketed an average of nearly 13% in 2013, more than eight times faster than the 1.5% general inflation rate, according to the new AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) report. The report notes that Uroxatral 10-mg tablet ER rose 197.5% in 2013, for example, while Actonel 150-mg tablet went up 78.6% in price. “Higher brand name drug prices can increase health care premiums, deductibles, and other cost-sharing for everyone with health coverage, even for those who don’t take medications,” said Debra Whitman, AARP executive vice president for Policy, Strategy and International Affairs. “If these price increases continue, we’ll likely see more people—particularly older people, who are often on fixed incomes—stop taking life-saving medications because they simply can’t afford them, leading to higher health care costs down the road.” With almost two-thirds of older Americans taking three or more prescription drugs annually, their annual cost of therapy would have been more than $8,800 during 2013—more than double the cost seen 8 years earlier, according to the report. The AARP noted that increased prices for brand name medications lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers who pay coinsurance instead of a fixed dollar amount. The new AARP report also found the following: • The average annual retail price increase for commonly prescribed brand-name prescription drugs was more than twice as high in 2013 (12.9%) as in 2006 (5.7%). • The average annual cost of one brand-name medication used to treat a chronic health condition rose to nearly $3,000 compared to nearly $1,500 in 2006. • Retail prices increased for 97% of the 227 brand-name prescription drugs in the study’s market basket. • Seven brand-name drugs had average annual retail price increases of more than 30% in 2013—Uroxatral, Actonel, Solaraze, Prandin, Lunesta, Aciphex, and Welchol. For the survey, the AARP’s Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the PRIME Institute at the University of Minnesota, developed a market basket of 227 brand-name prescription drug products widely used by older Americans. Using data from the Truven Health MarketScan Research Databases, the report analyzed retail price changes between 2006 and 2013 for the drug products in the market basket. The medications include products used to treat common and often chronic health conditions, including high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension. AARP is calling for Congress to help lower prescription drug costs by requiring manufacturer rebates for drugs purchased by Medicare Part D low-income subsidy beneficiaries, improving the approval process for generic versions of biologic drugs, and giving Medicare the authority to negotiate prescription drug prices with drug makers. |
U.S. Pharmacist Social Connect
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