The Effect of Drug Pricing on Outpatient Payments and Treatment for Three Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections in the United States, 2010-2017

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021 Mar 8:tpmd201452. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-1452. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe price of certain antiparasitic drugs (e.g., albendazole and mebendazole) has dramatically increased since 2010. The effect of these rising prices on treatment costs and use of standard of care (SOC) drugs is unknown. To measure the impact of drug prices on overall outpatient cost and quality of care, we identified outpatient visits associated with ascariasis, hookworm, and trichuriasis infections from the 2010 to 2017 MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and Multi-state Medicaid databases using Truven Health MarketScan Treatment Pathways. Evaluation was limited to members with continuous enrollment in non-capitated plans 30 days prior, and 90 days following, the first diagnosis. The utilization of SOC prescriptions was considered a marker for quality of care. The impact of drug price on the outpatient expenses was measured by comparing the changes in drug and nondrug outpatient payments per patient through Welch's two sample t-tests. The total outpatient payments per patient (drug and nondrug), for the three parasitic infections, increased between 2010 and 2017. The increase was driven primarily by prescription drug payments, which increased 20.6-137.0 times, as compared with nondrug outpatient payments, which increased 0.3-2.2 times. As prices of mebendazole and albendazole increased, a shift to alternative SOC and non-SOC drug utilization was observed. Using parasi...
Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research