AHRQ Stats: Outpatient Drug Expenses

Prescription drug expenses for adults totaled $267 billion nationwide in 2012. Of the leading classes of outpatient prescription drugs based on total expenses that year, metabolic drugs (used for conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes and weight control) were purchased by nearly one in four adults age 18 and older at an average of $104 per prescription. Meanwhile, cardiovascular drugs (used for conditions such as heart disease, blood clots and other circulatory disorders) were purchased by seven in 10 Medicare patients age 65 and older at an average of $28 per prescription. (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #468, Expenditures for the Top Five Therapeutic Classes of Outpatient Prescription Drugs, Adults Age 18 and Older, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2012and Statistical Brief #469, Expenditures for the Top Five Therapeutic Classes of Outpatient Prescription Drugs, Medicare Beneficiaries, Age 65 and Older, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2012.)

STATISTICAL BRIEF #469:
Expenditures for the Top Five Therapeutic Classes of Outpatient Prescription Drugs, Medicare Beneficiaries, Age 65 and Older, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2012

February 2015

Marc Roemer, MS

Highlights

In 2012, the top five most costly therapeutic classes of prescription drugs ranked by total expense among Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older were metabolic agents, cardiovascular agents, central nervous system agents, respiratory agents, and gastrointestinal agents.
Among the Medicare population age 65 and older in 2012, expenditures for the top five therapeutic classes totaled $61.4 billion and represented more than two-thirds (68.5 percent) of annual expenditures for prescription drugs.
Expenses for metabolic agents accounted for nearly one-quarter of total prescription drug expenses for the Medicare population age 65 and older in 2012.
More than two-thirds of the Medicare population age 65 and older purchased a cardiovascular agent in 2012.
In 2012, among the top five therapeutic classes of prescription drugs, respiratory agents had the highest average expense per prescription with more than four times the average expense of cardiovascular agents.