Dramatic Gains in Upstate New York’s Generic Drug Prescribing Patterns Identified

ROCHESTER, NY (11/12/2008)(readMedia)-- The number of upstate New York physicians prescribing high rates of generic versus brand-name drugs has risen dramatically during the past year, according to a new report issued today by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS).

A second report issued by the health plan shows that some of the savings achieved through the growth in generic prescribing patterns is offset by another trend that reveals the average costs of brand-name drugs have risen more than 80 percent during the past five years and nearly 16 percent in the past year. Generic medicine costs on average rose less than 11 percent over the past five years and less than 1 percent from a year ago.

According to the first report, the percentage of physicians across upstate New York who have generic fill rates of at least 70 percent has nearly doubled from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008, from 28.4 percent to 56.3 percent.

A generic fill rate is the percentage of all prescriptions that are filled with a generic drug. Generic fill rates vary by region, with the highest rates found in the Western New York and Finger Lakes regions, where three-tier prescription drug benefit designs are more common. Three-tier benefit designs give consumers a choice between using low-cost generics and more expensive brand-name drugs. The use of generics has, however, increased significantly across all regions.

"We believe the change in prescribing patterns reflects not only the increased availability of generics but a growing body of medical literature that shows lower cost generics may contribute to higher patient compliance rates, which can improve outcomes," said Martin Lustick, M.D., senior vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer at Excellus BCBS. "As price hikes for brand-name drugs continue to outpace inflation, doctors and patients are increasingly turning to generics as safe and effective alternatives."

The second report highlights that the average prescription cost for a 30-day supply of generic medicine was $17.43 in June 2003 and was $19.26 five years later. The average cost for a 30-day supply of brand-name drugs went from $87.45 to $159.06 during the same time period. Generic prescriptions as a percent of all prescriptions written gained ground. In 2003, brand-name drugs represented 52.9 percent of all prescriptions written, but this spring, they represented 32.5 percent of total prescriptions, according to the Excellus BCBS analysis.

"Unfortunately, some of the savings that upstate New York sees from greater use of generic drugs is offset by the huge price increases on prescribed and consumed brand-name drugs, particularly those that have no generic equivalents yet," said Joel Owerbach, Pharm. D., vice president and chief pharmacy officer at Excellus BCBS.

"Not all brand-name drugs have exact generic equivalents," Owerbach said. "But there may be effective generic alternatives that treat the same condition. That's why we encourage people to ask their doctor or pharmacist if there's a generic that might be right for them."

Excellus BCBS has a number of additional educational materials and resources available on its Web site, including a consumer reference guide that lists available generic drug options for a variety of common conditions. The reference guide is available at: go.excellusbcbs.com/generics under "Tools and Resources."

The full library of health policy reports and fact sheets, including the new fact sheets on "Generic Drug Prescribing Patterns" and "Cost Trends of Prescription Drugs," is available by going to www.excellusbcbs.com and clicking on "Policy and Research" at the bottom of the page.

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Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, a nonprofit independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, is part of a family of companies that finances and delivers vital health care services to nearly 2 million people across upstate New York. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield provides access to high-quality, affordable health coverage, including valuable health-related resources that our members use every day, such as cost-saving prescription drug discounts and wellness tracking tools in our Step Up program. To learn more, visit http://www.excellusbcbs.com .