scholarly journals Medicare part D prescribing for direct oral anticoagulants in the United States: Cost, use and the “rubber effect”

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. e0198674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panayiotis D. Ziakas ◽  
Irene S. Kourbeti ◽  
Loukia S. Poulou ◽  
Georgios S. Vlachogeorgos ◽  
Eleftherios Mylonakis
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. e694-e702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan E.V. Caram ◽  
Tudor Borza ◽  
Hye-Sung Min ◽  
Jennifer J. Griggs ◽  
David C. Miller ◽  
...  

Introduction: Abiraterone and enzalutamide were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2011 and 2012 to treat men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Most men with mCRPC are > 65 years of age and thus eligible for Medicare Part D. We conducted a study to better understand the early dissemination of these drugs across the United States using national Medicare Part D data. Methods: We evaluated the number of prescriptions for abiraterone and enzalutamide by provider specialty and hospital referral region (HRR) using Medicare Part D and Dartmouth Atlas data. We categorized HRRs by abiraterone and enzalutamide prescriptions, adjusted for prostate cancer incidence, and examined factors associated with regional variation using multilevel regression models. Results: Among providers who wrote the majority of prescriptions for abiraterone or enzalutamide in 2013 (n = 2,121), 87.5% were medical oncologists, 3.3% were urologists, and 9.2% were other provider specialties. Among prescribers, approximately 30% were responsible for three quarters of the claims for abiraterone and 20% were responsible for more than half the claims for enzalutamide. Some HRRs demonstrated low-prescribing rates despite average medical oncology and urology physician workforce density. Our multilevel model demonstrated that regional factors potentially influenced variation in care. Conclusion: The majority of prescriptions written for abiraterone and enzalutamide through Medicare Part D in 2013 were written by a minority of providers, with marked regional variation across the United States. Better understanding of the early national dissemination of these effective but expensive drugs can help inform strategies to optimize introduction of new, evidence-based mCRPC treatments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Buchmueller ◽  
Colleen Carey

The misuse of prescription opioids has become a serious epidemic in the United States. In response, states have implemented Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs), which record a patient’s opioid prescribing history. While few providers participated in early systems, states have recently begun to require providers to access the PDMP under certain circumstances. We find that “must access” PDMPs significantly reduce measures of misuse in Medicare Part D. In contrast, we find that PDMPs without such provisions have no effect. We find stronger effects when providers are required to access the PDMP under broad circumstances, not only when they are suspicious. (JEL H75, I11, I12, I18)


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (8_suppl) ◽  
pp. 35-35
Author(s):  
Megan Veresh Caram ◽  
Tudor Borza ◽  
Hye-Sung Min ◽  
Jennifer J. Griggs ◽  
David Christopher Miller ◽  
...  

35 Background: Abiraterone and enzalutamide are oral medications approved by the Food & Drug Administration in 2011 and 2012 to treat men with advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer. Most men with advanced prostate cancer are over age 65 and thus eligible for Medicare Part D. We conducted a study to better understand the early dissemination of these drugs across the United States using national Medicare Part D data. Methods: We evaluated the number of prescriptions for abiraterone and enzalutamide by provider specialty and hospital referral region (HRR) using Medicare Part D and Dartmouth Atlas data. We categorized HRRs by abiraterone and enzalutamide prescriptions, adjusted for prostate cancer incidence, and examined factors associated with regional variation using multilevel regression models. Results: Among all providers who wrote prescriptions for abiraterone or enzalutamide in 2013 (n=2121), 87.5% were medical oncologists, 3.3% urologists, and 9.2% were listed as other provider specialties. Among those who prescribed either drug, 5% of providers were responsible for 75% of the claims for abiraterone, and 7% were responsible for 75% of the claims for enzalutamide. Some HRRs demonstrated low-prescribing rates despite average medical oncology and urology physician workforce density. Conclusions: The majority of prescriptions written for abiraterone and enzalutamide through Medicare Part D in 2013 were written by a minority of providers with marked regional variation across the United States. Better understanding the early national dissemination of these effective but expensive drugs can help inform strategies to optimize introduction of new, evidence-based advanced prostate cancer treatments.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustin DeLago ◽  
Harpreet Singh ◽  
Arashdeep Rupal ◽  
Chinmay Jani ◽  
Arshi Parvez ◽  
...  

Background: Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10% of strokes annually in the United States (US). Up-to-date trends in disease burden and regional variation remain unknown; especially after a dramatic increase in the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) since 2010. Our study reports updated incidence, mortality and mortality to incidence ratio (MIR) data related to ICH across the US. Methods: This observational study utilized the Global Burden of Disease database to determine age-standardized incidence (ASIR), death (ASDR) and MIR rates for ICH overall and for each state in the US from 1990-2017. All analyses were stratified by sex. Trends were analyzed using Joinpoint regression analysis, with presentation of estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) in ASIRs, ASDRs and MIRs over the observation period. Results: We observed an overall decrease in ASIRs, ASDRs and MIRs in both genders from 1990-2017, apart from female ASIRs and ASDRs in West Virginia and Kentucky. In 2017, the mean ASIR per 100,000 population for men was 25.67 and 19.17 for women. The 2017 mean ASDRs per 100,000 population for men and women were 13.96 and 11.35, respectively. The District of Columbia had the greatest decreases in ASIR EAPCs for males at -41.25% and females at -40.58%, and the greatest decreases in ASDR EAPCs for both males and females at -55.38% and -48.51%, respectively. The overall MIR during the study period decreased in males by -12.12% and females by -7.43%. However, MIR increased in males from 2014-2017 (EAPC +2.2% [95% CI +0.9%-+3.5%]) and in females from 2011-2017 (EAPC +1.0% [CI +0.7%-+1.4%]). Conclusion: This report reveals overall decreasing trends in incidence, mortality and MIR from 1990-2017. Notably, no significant change in mortality was found in the last 6 years of the study period, and MIR worsened in males from 2014-2017 and in females from 2011-2017, suggesting decreased ICH related survival lately. The substitution of vitamin K antagonists with DOACs is one possible explanation for a downtrend in incidence despite an aging population and increased use of anticoagulants. Limited access to reversal agents for DOACs is a potential reason for increase in MIR, however concrete deductions cannot be made owing to the observational nature of the study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (28_suppl) ◽  
pp. 67-67
Author(s):  
Syed Hussaini ◽  
Arjun Gupta ◽  
Kelly E. Anderson ◽  
Jeromie M. Ballreich ◽  
Lauren H. Nicholas ◽  
...  

67 Background: The introduction of a filgrastim biosimilar in 2014 was associated with substantial cost savings in Medicare Part B and Medicaid programs. However, Medicare Part D is unique since it is unable to directly negotiate prices with drug manufacturers. We sought to investigate the uptake of filgrastim biosimilars and impact on spending among Part D beneficiaries. Methods: We evaluated utilization trends for filgrastim (Neupogen), filgrastim-sndz (Zarxio), and tbo-filgrastim (Granix) using the 2015-2019 Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Event data. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional review of annual spending, number of beneficiaries, number of claims, spending per beneficiary, and spending per dosage unit. We excluded filgrastim-aafi (Nivestym) due to recent approval and adjusted for inflation using 2019 dollars. Results: In 2019, total aggregate Part D spending on filgrastim products was $78 million. From 2015 to 2019, the biosimilar share of total aggregate spending increased from $1.8 million (2%) to $44 million (56%), with combined biosimilar spending (Zarxio and Granix) eclipsing originator Neupogen in 2018 (within 4 years of FDA approval of Zarxio). Total spending on Neupogen reduced 58% from 2015 to 2019. While biosimilar uptake progressively increased every year, total aggregate spending on all filgrastim forms reduced only 7% from 2015 to 2019 ($84 million to $78 million). For all 3 forms, from 2015 to 2019, trends in spending were: average spending per claim ($3193 to $2549, -20%), average spending per beneficiary ($5880 to $6722, +15%), and average spending per dosage unit of filgrastim ($583 vs $571, -2%). Detailed results in Table. Conclusions: We demonstrate that the significant uptake of biosimilar filgrastim products in Medicare Part D from 2015 to 2019 was associated with a small decrease in aggregate spending, essentially unchanged per unit spending, and increased spending per beneficiary on filgrastim products. Our findings contrast with experiences across Medicare Part B and Medicaid, that demonstrated significant cost savings with biosimilar filgrastim uptake. This may be due to inability of Medicare Part D to directly negotiate prices with manufacturers (in contrast to Medicare Part B and Medicaid), supporting ongoing Congressional policy being debated in the United States Senate (H.R. 3).[Table: see text]


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