Medicaid Driving New Retail Scripts – IMS
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
Medicaid prescriptions jumped 25.4% in the 27 states, plus D.C., that expanded coverage under ACA.
The number of U.S. prescriptions dispensed at retail outlets increased 2.4% in 2014, with most of that increase driven by the first year of expanded Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics reports.
The information is contained in the latest IMS report on drug spending trends. Overall it found that new products and fewer major patent expirations combined to push drug spending up 13.1% in 2014 to almost $374 billion.
While Medicaid expansion under ACA has been a contentious political issue in some states, the IMS report shows there has been greater outpatient prescription drug utilization in those states that have expanded coverage.
The overall number of Medicaid prescriptions increased 16.8%, accounting for 70% of the increase in retail prescription demand. In the 27 states, plus D.C., that expanded coverage, Medicaid scripts jumped 25.4%. In non-expansion states, Medicaid scripts grew only 2.8%.
As for the state exchange plans that started providing benefits under ACA in 2014, IMS found that of the enrollees filling prescriptions, 70% had been enrolled in a commercial plan in 2013, 6% had been in Medicaid and 24% had paid cash for prescriptions, suggesting they had been uninsured. It also found that 9% of newly enrolled Medicaid patients may have been uninsured.