CMS Creates Site that Lists Drug Use and Spending
- By BSTQ Staff
Amid scrutiny of rising drug prices, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has created an interactive online dashboard to allow the public and policymakers to explore the financial burden that high-expense drugs place on the Medicare program and the nation’s seniors. The dashboard, which includes drugs prescribed under Medicare Part B that are administered in doctors’ offices and other outpatient settings and Medicare Part D (the program’s general prescription drug benefit), shows the overall spending for the top 80 drugs received by beneficiaries, along with recent trends in their prices and the number of older Americans who rely on them. Drugs were chosen for the list if they were among the top 15 in overall spending for either Medicare Part B or D, had a high level of per-patient spending or had the greatest price increases. While the data are for 2014, they compare trends in use and prices for the previous few years.
The data does not list the net prices paid to manufacturers or the rebates to plans and prescription benefit management under Part D, which CMS is not permitted to disclose. Under Part B, Medicare pays 106 percent of the estimated average sales price of each drug, which reflects the average prices paid by physician offices and hospital outpatient departments, accounting for discounts and rebates. “By sharing this information and allowing people to analyze the data, we can increase the knowledge around drug spending and support efforts that are evaluating whether public dollars are being spent most effectively,” said CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt.
