Posted by Michael Wonder on 17 Aug 2017
Association of reference pricing with drug selection and spending
17 August 2017 - In the United States, prices for therapeutically similar drugs vary widely, which has prompted efforts by public and private insurers to steer patients toward the lower-priced options.
Under reference pricing, the insurer or employer establishes a maximum contribution it will make toward the price of a drug or procedure, and the patient pays the remainder.
Implementation of reference pricing was associated with a higher percentage of prescriptions that were filled for the lowest-priced reference drug within its therapeutic class (difference in probability, 7.0 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.0 to 9.9), a lower average price paid per prescription (−13.9%; 95% CI, −23.8 to −2.7), and a higher rate of copayment by patients (5.2%; 95% CI, 0.2 to 10.4) than in the comparison group.
