Health Affairs · 2004 · 41 citations · 4 references
Public AffairsHealth PolicyPharmaceutical PolicyBudget Impact AnalysisHealth Care FinancingHealth EconomicsCopayment DesignHealth Care Expenditure AnalysisHealth ExpenditurePharmaceutical EconomicsPharmaceutical FinancingPrescription Drug PolicyDrug Spending AnalysisNational Health AccountsNational Health Expenditure AccountsPrescription Drug CostsPrescription Drug ExpendituresPrescription Drug SpendingPublic Health SpendingSpending Growth Modeling
Recent rapid spending growth for retail drugs has largely arisen from increased use of new drugs, rather than from increasing prices of existing drugs. A sizable shift in the payment from consumers to third parties has also contributed to faster growth. Strategies such as negotiating for rebates and using tiered copayments have sought to slow spending growth but simultaneously have complicated the estimation of spending in the National Health Accounts (NHA). NHA estimates show that retail pharmaceuticals' share of health spending is not much different than it was in 1960, although its share of gross domestic product (GDP) has tripled.
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