Changes in Drug List Prices and Amounts Paid by Patients and Insurers.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

High out-of-pocket drug costs can cause patients to skip treatment and worsen outcomes, and high insurer drug payments could increase premiums. Drug wholesale list prices have doubled in recent years. However, because of manufacturer discounts and rebates, the extent to which increases in wholesale list prices are associated with amounts paid by patients and insurers is poorly characterized.

Objective

To determine whether increases in wholesale list prices are associated with increases in amounts paid by patients and insurers for branded medications.

Design, setting, and participants

Cross-sectional retrospective study analyzing pharmacy claims for patients younger than 65 years in the IBM MarketScan Commercial Database and pricing data from SSR Health, LLC

SUBMITTER: Yang EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7726630 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature