Three out of four medicines with $1 billion or more of yearly global sales increased prices by more than double the rate of inflation between 2009 and 2015, even when insurer- and pharmacy benefit manager-negotiated discounts were factored in, a Bloomberg analysis shows.
Insurers can easily require patients to switch to alternatives, the analysis notes, giving them leverage to negotiate lower prices.
But drug costs are still putting significant pressure on payers’ margins, rising from less than 10 percent of care-cost expenditures years ago to 13 percent in 2010 and 17 percent in 2015. Insurers and state lawmakers have tried pushing back, with Virginia among severalstates trying to legislate better price transparency. Insurers also are experimenting with negotiating deals with drug manufacturers that link prices to how well the drugs work.
Bloomberg looked at 39 drugs for its analysis. Only six increased in price at the rate of inflation or below, the news agency found. Discounted prices rose significantly as well. The discounted prices for 27 of the 39 drugs rose by 25 percent or more over six years; the consumer price index rose just 9.5 percent during the same period, according to the article. Prices doubled or more for seven drugs.
HENRY KOTULA 