Rx Price Comparisons Offered On Medicare Card Site For Eight Drug Classes

Medicare beneficiaries can compare the price of drugs in the same class for eight pharmaceutical categories following changes to the program's drug discount card website.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the "Lower Cost Rx Comparison Tool" Sept. 15. It is available through the Medicare.gov website or by calling Medicare's toll-free hotline.

¹ Drug categories for which comparisons are provided are ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, ARB combinations, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), non-sedating or low-sedating antihistamines, non-sedating antihistamine/decongestant combinations, proton pump inhibitors and COX-2 inhibitors.

The eight classes comprise 52 drugs, including generics. CMS noted that the drugs represent about a quarter of all Medicare drug spending.

The website displays the 30-day price for the generic version of a drug if available, as well as for other brands in the same class. It also provides the cost per month if the beneficiary receives a 90-day supply of the selected drug by mail.

The tool can compare either national average drug prices or the prices available through a specific card.

The comparison chart lists the annual savings that could be achieved by switching to an alternative drug. CMS is encouraging beneficiaries to take the cost information to their physicians and discuss switching to a lower-cost alternative.

At a same-day press briefing, CMS used Merck's statin Zocor (simvastatin) as an example.

A beneficiary seeking a lower-cost alternative to Zocor 20 mg daily would find the lowest average price for a statin among the national drug cards is for Andrx' Altoprev (lovastatin) 40 mg, at $57.19 a month (as of Sept. 13). Since Zocor's monthly price is $89.38, switching to Altoprev would yield annual savings of $386.32.

In the statin category, dose comparisons are based on each drug's ability to lower LDL cholesterol. CMS noted that Altoprev 40 mg has been shown to reduce LDL 37%, compared to 38% for Zocor 20 mg.

CMS' example also listed prices for Novartis' Lescol XL (fluvastatin) 80 mg ($63.13), Pfizer's Lipitor (atorvastatin) 10 mg ($66.08), generic lovastatin 40 mg ($65.58), Merck's Mevacor (lovastatin) 40 mg ($123.51), and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pravachol (pravastatin) 40 mg ($116.80).

AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin) was not included in the example. A search for Zocor 80 mg ($100.40) found that using Crestor 10 mg ($64.01) instead would give annual savings of $436.75.

CMS contracted with Navigant to develop the comparison tool. Navigant's medical board of physicians and pharmacists developed the drug categories and determined comparable doses. The board will review the website's content monthly.

CMS will continue to update prices on the website weekly. The agency hopes the class comparison tool will help drive prices down.

"The more Americans compare prices, the more market pressure will drive drug prices down, and that is what this is all about, making drug prices more competitive," HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson told the briefing.

Thompson has discussed plans to have a class comparison tool on the website since before the site launched April 29 (² (Also see "Medicare Drug Card Roll-Out: Awareness Increasing, But Work To Do" - Pink Sheet, 12 Apr, 2004.), p. 25). Prices available through the cards dropped in the first few weeks after the website began, but were stable by the time beneficiaries started enrolling June 1 (³ (Also see "Medicare Drug Card Discounts Stabilize In Fourth Pricing Update" - Pink Sheet, 31 May, 2004.), p. 24).

Thompson said 4.5 mil. beneficiaries have enrolled in the Medicare card program.

Other features added to the website include alerting beneficiaries that they may qualify for the Medicare Part B oral drug replacement demonstration project, estimating a beneficiary's annual savings by using the drug card compared to their current costs, describing the scope of each card's drug coverage and allowing beneficiaries to focus searches on cards accepted at their preferred pharmacy.