Becker's Healthcare November 27, 2024
Alexandra Murphy

Medicare beneficiaries are facing wide price discrepancies for prescription drugs, with the same medication costing vastly different amounts, depending on the plan and location, The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 26.

Here are five key reasons why costs can vary significantly:

  1. Pharmacy benefits managers negotiate prices for Medicare, but they do so differently across health plans. For example, CVS Caremark has 643 different prices for generic versions of Zytiga, while Express Scripts has 500 and Optum Rx has 445. By comparison, Capital Rx, a smaller PBM, only has two prices for the same drug pegged to the U.S. government’s national average drug acquisition cost.
  2. The price for prescription drugs can also vary widely depending on...

Today's Sponsors

LEK
ZeOmega

Today's Sponsor

LEK

Continue Reading

 
Topics: Biotechnology, Insurance, Medicare, Patient / Consumer, Pharma, Pharma / Biotech
Related Articles:
Drug Price Negotiation Requires Oversight To Protect Older Americans
Prices of 25 Medicare Part D drugs up 98%
Podcast: The Scope of Medicare Fraud
Study reveals cost differences between Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare patients in cancer drugs
Harnessing AI to reduce Medicare errors, improve accuracy, and ease physician burnout

Share This Article