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in the price index from the first quarter of 2009 through the first quarter of 2010-prior to
passage of health reform in March 2010-was 5.9 percent, less than the increase for the
2 years prior but higher than in 2006. We also found that the U&C price index for our second
basket of 55 brand-name drugs increased at an average annual rate of 8.3 percent during our
time period. In contrast, the U&C price index for our third basket of 45 generic drugs
decreased at an average annual rate of 2.6 percent. Finally, when shifts in consumer
utilization between brand-name and generic versions of the same drug were included in the
analysis using our fourth basket of drugs selected by active ingredient, the U&C price index
increased about 2.6 percent per year, a much lower rate than the 6.6 percent annual increase
observed when shifts in utilization were not included.
We found that price trends for the 100 drugs in our first basket as measured using drug prices
other than U&C also increased from 2006 through the first quarter of 2010, but at a somewhat
slower rate than the 6.6 percent rate for the U&C price index. For example, the AWP price
index increased at an average annual rate of 6.0 percent while the AMP price index increased
at an average annual rate of 5.3 percent. The Part D price index-which was measured from
2007 through the first quarter of 2010-increased at an average annual rate of 6.8 percent,
slightly less than the U&C price index of 7.0 percent when measured across the same period.
For additional details on our results, see enclosure III. We also provide information on the
extent to which prices for individual brand-name drugs changed over the course of our
analysis period in enclosure IV.
We did not obtain external comments on a draft of this report because we did not evaluate
the programs of the organizations that provided us data.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier,
we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the report date. At that time, we will send
copies of this report to relevant congressional committees and other interested members.
The report also will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions regarding this report, please contact me at (202) 512-
7114 or dickenj@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and
Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff members who made
key contributions to this report are listed in enclosure V.
John E. Dicken
Director, Health Care
Enclosures - 5GAO-11-306R Prescription Drug Price Trends
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United States. Government Accountability Office. Prescription Drugs: Trends in Usual and Customary Prices for Commonly Used Drugs, text, February 10, 2011; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc302635/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.