Medicare Part D plans would have saved more than $925 million in 2016 by prescribing generic instead of brand-name versions of combination drugs, according to a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Moreover, between 2011 and 2016, Medicare could have saved $2.7 billion by paying for generic versions of the 10 costliest brand-name drugs alone.
The study, conducted by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, focused on the 28 combination drugs most commonly prescribed under Part D that exist in both brand-name and combination form. Most (16) of these drugs treat cardiovascular conditions.
Zegerid, which is used to treat a variety of gastrointestinal conditions, was the most expensive drug on the list at $86.29 per pill. Its generic constituents, omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate, cost a meager $0.47.
The opioid Percocet was also one of the most expensive drugs analyzed.
It’s no surprise that generic drugs cost less than brand-name drugs. But generics have been in the spotlight recently as the Trump administration has rolled out its “American Patients First” plan to reduce drug prices.
The Food and Drug Administration approved a record number of generic drugs last month, according to a report detailing the first 100 days of “American Patients First” released earlier this week.
The study recommended generic substitution as one way to reduce drug costs in Medicare. But advancing generics doesn’t get to the heart of this problem, according to some experts. Instead, drug companies must be pressured to lower prices of brand-name drugs.
The study did not consider each drug’s rebate amount because CMS is prohibited from publishing that information. Further, patients occasionally must take the brand-name version of a drug for medical reasons, but the study could not weed out those cases.