Prescribing of low- versus high-cost Part B drugs in Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Examine whether Medicare Advantage (MA) coverage is associated with more efficient prescribing of Part B drugs than traditional Medicare (TM) coverage.

Data sources

Twenty percent sample of 2016 outpatient and carrier TM claims and MA encounter records and Master Beneficiary Summary File data.

Study design

We analyzed whether MA enrollees compared to TM enrollees more often received the low-cost Part B drug in four clinical scenarios where multiple similarly effective drugs exist: (1) anti-VEGF agents to treat macular degeneration, (2) bone resorption inhibitors for osteoporosis, (3) bone resorption inhibitors for malignant neoplasms, and (4) intravenous iron for iron deficiency anemia. We then estimated differences in spending if TM prescribing aligned with

SUBMITTER: Anderson KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9108062 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature