What’s up in Rx drug trends? Pharmacist prescribing for one thing

The 2024 Drug Trends Report released November 14 by GreenShield, highlights some of the key factors driving the prescription drug market in Canada.No surprise, drug costs rose over the past year, with the average GreenShield claimant submitting drug claims for $973 in 2023, up by $18 from 2022. Two drug categories accounting for the increase were obesity drugs, claims for which rose by 43%, and diabetes medications which accounted for 9% of the company’s drug claims and which increased in cost by 13%. The report also noted that claims for diabetes meds grew by 16% in the year. The report cites the 50% increase in costs for Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists from 2022 to 2023 as a major driver of the cost increase.Specialty drug claims were also up, accounting for $700 million in costs, up from $630 million the previous year. And for the first time, claims for biosimilars (which increased by 38%) exceeded claims for original biologics (which declined by 32%), which GreenShield says helped to save the plan money.Corresponding with national trends, patient claims for mental health-related treatments grew significantly, with GreenShield seeing a 132% increase in mental healthcare claims and a 50% increase in the number of claimaints seeking coverage for mental health-related medications. The number of claimants submitting costs for ADHD medications alone grew by 20%, which is reflected in a 24% increase in costs for those drugs.More pharmacist prescribed claimsData from the GreenShield report also tracks prescriber information and finds that pharmacist-prescribed claims accounted for 6% of claims, up by 140% since 2019. In Quebec, pharmacists prescribed 9% of claimed drugs. Pharmacist prescribing tends to help keep own drug plan costs, according to the report: "Public acceptance of pharmacists prescribing appears strong, when comparing the average cost per claim when prescribed by a pharmacist versus the average cost per claim across all prescriber types, pharmacists tend to prescribe lower-cost and less complex medications within chronic disease states. For example, the average cost of a diabetes medication when prescribed by a pharmacist is $84, which is $33, or 28% lower than the average cost per claim across all prescriber types.”For more details, the full report can be viewed here.

What’s up in Rx drug trends? Pharmacist prescribing for one thing

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