Increase in Generic Fill Rate Saved Upstate New York $369 Million in 2008

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (01/22/2009)(readMedia)-- Measurable increases in the use of generic drugs as alternatives to higher-priced brand-name drugs produced estimated savings totaling $369 million across upstate New York in 2008, according to an updated analysis of prescription patterns released today by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

The analysis shows that from October 2007 to October 2008, the overall "generic fill rate" across upstate New York counties increased by 4.5 percentage points, from 63.9 percent to 68.4 percent. The generic fill rate is the percentage of all drug prescriptions that are filled with a generic.

These findings for 2008, coupled with previous Excellus BCBS analyses, show that since October 2005, community-wide savings from the increasing use of generic drugs totaled more than $725 million. In addition, national studies show that the compliance rates for taking medications may be higher with generics than brand-name drugs due to the lower cost.

"The increasing use of generic drugs has multiple benefits, especially in today's economy," said Joel Owerbach, Pharm.D., vice president and chief pharmacy officer for Excellus BCBS. "It saves consumers money at the pharmacy through lower copays and out-of-pocket costs, it lowers benefit expenses for employer-sponsored and government health plans, and it may help to improve patient compliance. It's a win-win for everyone."

The analysis was based on prescription consumption patterns of approximately 1.2 million people living in 39 counties of upstate New York from October 2007 to October 2008, which were then extrapolated to the larger population of those counties. The updated report is available online at www.excellusbcbs.com, in the site's "Policy and Research" section. This update supplements a series of previous fact sheets on generic drug savings issued by Excellus BCBS, which are also posted on the Web site.

A fact sheet from November 2008 showed that some of the savings achieved through the growth in generic prescribing patterns is offset by significant increases in the average costs of brand-name drugs, which have risen more than 80 percent during the past five years and nearly 16 percent in the past year alone.

Excellus BCBS issued its first generic drug savings report in late 2005. At that time the generic fill rate for the upstate population was 53.8 percent or 14.6 percent lower than it is today. Since that time, Excellus BCBS has developed a series of educational materials and resources, including online tools to educate employers, patients and providers about the safety, effectiveness and cost-saving opportunities available with generics. The online tools are free and available to anyone at www.go.excellusbcbs.com/generics .

"The increase in generic drug use means that more people in our community can afford important drug therapy," said Owerbach. "Our primary message is to encourage everyone who is taking a medication to ask his or her health care provider and pharmacist if a generic option is available and right for them."

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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 1.8 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