Drug Pricing

ASPE ISSUE BRIEF Health Care Cost Containment and Medical Innovation May 2012 By: Amber Jessup, Ph.D.

This Policy Brief provides a snapshot of prescription drug use and spending in 2001, the latest year for which complete community and long-term care facility drug data are available.

Prepared by: National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago Prepared for:U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Rapidly rising prescription drug prices have caused many consumers, third-party payers, and policymakers to look for ways to lower their drug costs. One strategy that many have seen as a potential solution is to import drug products from countries where drug prices are lower than those in the United States — commonly called reimportation.

This paper examines the combined effects of drug plan risk the first year of Medicare part D implementation of the combination of reinsurance, risk-adjustment and risk-corridors

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was charged with setting regional market areas for the implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA).

By Kerry Kemp,Health Systems Research, Inc.

Provides discussion and estimates of several Congressional proposals on prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries.

Executive Summary Prescription drugs play an ever-increasing role in modern medicine. New medications are improving health outcomes and quality of life, replacing surgery and other invasive treatments, and quickening recovery for patients who receive these treatments. As important as prescription drugs are, not everyone has access to them.