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Medicare Drug Program News
Out-of-Pocket Drug Cost for Average Senior More Than
Doubled from '97 to '04
Drug spending jumped from $72 to $191 billion for all
Americans not in confined care
May 18, 2007 – The cost of prescription drugs for
the average senior citizen, not living in a care facility, increased 130
percent between 1997 and 2004 – growing from $819 to $1,914 in 2004. The
average out-of-pocket costs for drugs climbed even faster – it more than
doubled from $483 to $1,027. For all non-institutionalized Americans,
spending on medications prescribed to outpatients jumped from $72
billion in 1997 to $191 billion in 2004.
(Note sidebar stories reflecting
favorable impact of Medicare drug program on cost of drugs for senior
citizens, which is not reflected in the AHRQ report.)
This data is from the latest News and Numbers from
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and covers spending by
people who live in the community and were not in institutions, such as
nursing homes.
More highlights:
● From 1997 to 2004, total purchases of
outpatient prescription drugs increased from approximately 2 billion to
nearly 3 billion prescriptions. This increase was fueled in part by a
rise in the average number of prescription drug purchases per year by
the elderly age 65 and older, which increased from 22 to 31 purchases
per year.
● The average annual amount spent on
prescription drugs by people under age 65 who purchased prescription
medications rose 140 percent from 1997 to 2004 – climbing from $347 in
1997 to $838 in 2004. From 1997 to 2004, the average annual amount this
group spent out of pocket on prescription drugs rose from $143 to $304.
● In the same time frame, younger consumers
also bought more prescription drugs on average. People under age 65 who
purchased prescription medications, purchased 9 prescriptions a year on
average. In 2004, this number rose to 13 prescriptions per year.
AHRQ, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, works to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and
effectiveness of health care in the United States. The data in this AHRQ
News and Numbers comes from the Agency's Medical Expenditure Panel
Survey, a highly detailed source of information on the health services
that Americans use, how frequently they use them, the cost of these
services, and how they are paid.
For more information on this AHRQ News and Numbers
see
Trends in Outpatient Prescription Drug Utilization and Expenditures:
1997 and 2004.
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