Could hybrid work and online schooling be causes for rise in claims for ADHD and depression meds?

As Canadians continued to grapple with the pandemic in 2021, a growing number sought relief with medications for attention deficit disorder and depression, according to a new TELUS Health report that captures the claims activities of more than 5.2 million private drug plan members across the country. “Five years ago, medications like Vyvanse and Concerta, used to treat neurodivergent-related disorders such as ADHD and narcolepsy, ranked 10th, while in 2021, these medications surpassed cancer medications,” wrote the report’s authors. “It could be noted that online schooling may have been a contributing factor behind the increased diagnosis of ADHD, for children who found it even more difficult to focus in front of a screen.” At the same time, depression medications climbed to fourth position on the top 10 list of drug categories, up one spot from the three previous years. “With work-from-home and hybrid workstyles now the norm, it is clear that the pandemic created unique challenges for Canadians, impacting both their mental and physical health,” Shawn O’Brien, principal, data enablement and health benefits management product at TELUS Health, stated in a press release. Read: Canadians 4th in the world in per capita drug spending: report Last year also saw specialty drugs continue to make a bigger impact on overall drug use than traditional drugs, accounting for one-third of total costs for fewer than 2% of members who submitted claims for these drugs. According to the report, diabetes medications may soon surpass rheumatoid arthritis drugs as the top category by eligible claims amount. This trend suggests a correlation between the rise in use of diabetes medications—which has consistently been among the top three categories based on eligible amount—and the rise in obesity rates among Canadians. Meanwhile, Canadians with rheumatoid arthritis are increasingly using lower-cost biosimilar medications, in large part due to public policies that support this switch. Read: Non-diabetics can have more complications from surgery than diabetics High-cost drugs have, more and more, been taking up significant shares of total eligible amounts. In 2021, 40% of the total eligible amounts came from 2% of members who submitted claims for more than $10,000 a year—an increase from just 33% in 2017. “Even more compelling is the fact that 0.03% of claimants accounted for close to 6% of the total eligible amount by the end of 2021,” said O’Brien. “These claimants are taking ultra-high-cost drugs for very rare diseases, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.” Among those who made claims for ultra-high-cost drugs—totalling eligible amounts of $100,000 or higher—half were doing so for the first time. These newcomers to the category had previously claimed annual amounts above $10,000 but below $100,000. “And if we dig down even deeper, 20% of claimants new to the ultra-high-cost category had costs below $10,000 in 2020,” said O’Brien. “In just one year, likely as a result of the progression of disease, the eligible amounts for their treatments increased more than tenfold.” Drugs to treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and cystic fibrosis accounted for the largest portion of the total amounts among members who claimed a total annual eligible amount exceeding $100,000. Read: U.S. FDA panel narrowly sides against experimental ALS drug

Could hybrid work and online schooling be causes for rise in claims for ADHD and depression meds?

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