With Exchanges Comes Uptick in Brand-Name Drug Prescriptions for Chronic Conditions

Patients on the new insurance exchanges are more likely to have received brand name drugs for their chronic conditions, according to a report from The Washington Post.

Numbers from Express Scripts on pharmacy benefits indicated exchange enrollees in January and February received specialty medications more than 1 percent of the time for conditions such as cancer, hepatitis C and HIV. That number is somewhat less than 1 percent for commercial health plans. These prescriptions account for less than 1 percent of prescriptions and nearly one-quarter of spending on pharmaceuticals, according to the report.

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While the trend may be worrying, it is not yet a major cause for concern, according to the report, as health plans have only analyzed very early data on their new enrollees.

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