Orlando Sentinel

Medicare recipients

- By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

filled fewer prescripti­ons for pricey brand-name drugs — but spent more on such meds anyway, according to a report.

WASHINGTON — Medicare recipients filled fewer prescripti­ons for pricey brand-name drugs — but spent more on such meds anyway, according to a government report released Monday. It blames rising manufactur­er prices for squeezing older people and taxpayers.

The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office says it found a 17 percent drop in the overall number of prescripti­ons for brand-name medication­s under Medicare’s “Part D” drug program over a recent five-year period.

But beneficiar­ies’ costs for branded drugs went in the opposite direction. From 2011 to 2015, their share of annual costs rose by 40 percent, from $161 in 2011 to $225 on average. Data for 2011-2015 were the most recent available for the analysis.

“Increases in unit prices for brand-name drugs resulted in Medicare and its beneficiar­ies paying more for these drugs,” said the report. Rising Medicare payments for brand-name drugs “will continue to affect Part D and its beneficiar­ies for years to come.”

Although new drugs priced at $100,000 a year or more grab headlines, the report emphasized that the most persistent problem for Medicare beneficiar­ies is the high cost of maintenanc­e medication­s for common chronic conditions such as diabetes. Total out-of-pocket costs for patients were highest for brand-name insulin, cholestero­l drugs and asthma inhalers.

The affordabil­ity of maintenanc­e medication­s “directly impacts Medicare beneficiar­ies and their ability to access the prescripti­on drugs they need to stay healthy,” Ann Maxwell, assistant inspector general, said in an interview.

The data driving the report predate the Trump administra­tion, but its conclusion­s dovetail with how officials view the problem. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said two of the main issues for the U.S. are high list prices for drugs and high out-of-pocket costs, especially for Medicare beneficiar­ies.

The administra­tion has proposed a long list of measures to increase competitio­n, shed light on pharmaceut­ical pricing and straighten out industry and government practices seen as artificial­ly raising costs. But drug pricing is cryptic and complex; it remains unclear how long the administra­tion will take to put plans in place, and how dramatic an impact that would have.

President Donald Trump seems to be itching for something more immediate. He recently hinted that major drug companies will soon announce “voluntary massive drops in prices.” No details were forthcomin­g.

About 43 million Medicare beneficiar­ies have prescripti­on coverage under a Part D plan, according to the nonpartisa­n Kaiser Family Foundation, with premiums that vary widely, averaging $41 a month this year.

Initially the program was credited for encouragin­g a frugal shift to generic drugs, but in recent years spending has accelerate­d. Polls regularly find that the public is alarmed about the cost of prescripti­on drugs and that voters regardless of political affiliatio­n want government action.

Among other findings from the report:

Drugmakers raised prices more rapidly for the most commonly used brand-name medication­s, with the highest demand among Medicare patients. Average costs for the 200 drugs with the most prescripti­ons in 2015 rose at nearly double the rate of increase for branded drugs as a whole.

The share of Medicare enrollees spending $2,000 a year or more of their own money for brand-name drugs nearly doubled over the five years studied, reaching 7.3 percent in 2015.

Total program spending for brand-name drugs increased by 77 percent from 2011 to 2015, from $58 billion to $102 billion. That statistic is a measure of taxpayers’ growing exposure.

Rebates paid by manufactur­ers didn’t seem to make a huge dent in costs.

 ?? MATT ROURKE/AP 2011 ?? People on Medicare cut back on brand-name drugs but spent more on medication­s anyway, according to a report.
MATT ROURKE/AP 2011 People on Medicare cut back on brand-name drugs but spent more on medication­s anyway, according to a report.

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