The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality releases statistical briefs with insights on healthcare cost and quality. The following is a list of the top five most costly prescription drugs by total expense prescribed to Medicare beneficiaries in 2010 as reported in AHRQ’s Statistical Brief #411. Combined, these drugs accounted for 68.23 percent of Medicare prescription drug spending, totaling $63.4 billion.
1. Metabolic agents ($22.5 billion). These drugs accounted for nearly a quarter of all Medicare beneficiary prescription drug spending. On average, metabolic agents cost $98 dollars per prescription. Nearly 60 percent of Medicare beneficiaries had a prescription for a metabolic agent.
Read the full article on Becker’s Hospital Review.
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