Drug spending on the rise in employer-based health plans, report finds

Spending on prescription drugs among people who are covered by private employer health insurance plans rose about 26 percent from 2014 to 2018, according to a report from the Health Care Cost Institute. 

The 2018 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report, released Feb. 13 by the Health Care Cost Institute, a nonprofit research organization, showed that the rate prescription drug spending rose outpaced the rate of other medical services, such as physician visits or hospitalizations. 

The researchers reviewed more than 2.5 billion medical and prescription drug claims for about 40 million people with employer health coverage. 

They found that the average price of drugs purchased by people with employer-based insurance rose by about 21 percent from 2014 to 2018. 

Prescription drug spending per person accounted for 19 percent of all healthcare spending in 2018.

Read the full report here

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