March 8, 2016 - Curant COO, Marc O'Connor, in Managed Healthcare Executive - At its simplest, the top three factors impacting medication spending are the massive increases in number and cost of specialty medications, the backlog of generics awaiting FDA approval and lack of medication adherence.
According to a recent presentation delivered to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) by Doug Long, vice president of industry relations for IMS Health, spending on specialty medications increased 12.3% to $411 billion in moving annual total as of September 2015.
Hepatitis, diabetes and oncology drugs are the primary drivers. He also reported that the growth rate in specialty medication cost is 23%, compared to traditional medications which grew at just 8% YTD as of September 2015.
New brand spending increased by $19.8 billion in the last 12 months, and more than 75% of new brand spending is on specialty medications.
According to a recent report from The Pew Charitable Trusts, less than 1% of all prescriptions were written for specialty drugs in 2014, yet they accounted for approximately 32% of total drug expenditures.
To read Marc's full article, visit Managed Healthcare Executive.
To learn more about Curant Health, contact Kristin Lindsey, Marketing Director, at klindsey@curanthealth.com