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April 20, 2021; 96 (16) Article

Five-Year Trends in Payments for Neurologist-Prescribed Drugs in Medicare Part D

Adam de Havenon, Alen Delic, Sarah Dehoney, Presley Whetman, Nazanin Sheibani, Brian Callaghan, John Ney, Gregory J. Esper, Brandon Magliocco, Kavita V. Nair
First published March 10, 2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000011712
Adam de Havenon
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Alen Delic
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Sarah Dehoney
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Presley Whetman
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Nazanin Sheibani
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Brian Callaghan
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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John Ney
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Gregory J. Esper
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Brandon Magliocco
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Kavita V. Nair
From the University of Utah (A.d.H., A.D., S.D., P.W., N.S.), Salt Lake City; University of Michigan (B.C.), Ann Arbor; Boston University (J.N.), MA; Emory University (G.J.E.), Atlanta, GA; American Academy of Neurology (B.M.), Minneapolis, MN; and University of Colorado (K.V.N.), Denver.
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Five-Year Trends in Payments for Neurologist-Prescribed Drugs in Medicare Part D
Adam de Havenon, Alen Delic, Sarah Dehoney, Presley Whetman, Nazanin Sheibani, Brian Callaghan, John Ney, Gregory J. Esper, Brandon Magliocco, Kavita V. Nair
Neurology Apr 2021, 96 (16) e2132-e2137; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011712

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Abstract

Objective To determine whether there was an increase in payments for neurologist-prescribed drugs, we performed a retrospective analysis of prescription claims in the Medicare Part D Prescriber Public Use Files from 2013 to 2017.

Methods We included claims prescribed by providers with the taxonomy “neurology” and included drugs present in all 5 years. Drugs were designated in 2013 as generic (GEN), brand name only (BNO), and brand name prescribed even though a generic equivalent is available (BNGE). To observe payment trends, the percentage change in the per claim payment was compared between drug classes.

Results We included 520 drugs, of which 322 were GEN, 61 were BNO, and 137 were BNGE, representing 90,716,536 claims and generating payments of $26,654,750,720. While the number of claims from 2013 to 2017 increased only 7.6%, the total payment increased 50.4%. Adjusted for inflation, claim payments for GEN drug increased 0.6%, compared to significant increases in BNO and BNGE drugs of 42.4% and 45.0% (ptrend < 0.001). The percentage of overall GEN claims increased from 81.9% to 88.0%, BNO increased from 4.9% to 6.2%, and BNGE decreased from 13.3% to 5.8%. Neuroimmunology/multiple sclerosis drugs represented >50% of the total payments despite being only 4.3% of claims.

Conclusions Payments for neurologist-prescribed brand name, but not generic, drugs in Medicare Part D increased consistently and well above inflation from 2013 to 2017. Unless the overall trend stabilizes or is reversed or high cost-to-claim drugs are addressed, this trend will place an increasing burden on the neurologic Medicare budget.

Glossary

BNGE=
brand name with generic equivalent;
BNO=
brand name only;
GEN=
generic

Footnotes

  • Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.

  • Received September 3, 2020.
  • Accepted in final form January 28, 2021.
  • © 2021 American Academy of Neurology
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