Total spending growth returns for US medicines, reports IMS Health

Total spending on US medicines increased 1.0% on a real per capita basis in 2013, while the use of health care services overall rose for the first time in three years, according to a new report issued today by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.

The study – titled Medicine Use and Shifting Costs of Healthcare: A Review of the Use of Medicines in the United States in 2013 from the IMS Institute’s Use of Medicines report, – found that total dollars spent on medications in the USA reached $329.2 billion last year, up 3.2% on a nominal basis and a rebound from the 1.0% decline in 2012.

Patent expiries account for $19 billion of lower medicine spend

Primary drivers include the reduced impact of patent expiries, price increases, higher spending on innovative new medicines, and greater use by patients of the health care system. Patent expiries in 2013 contributed $19 billion to lower medicine spending, compared with $29 billion the previous year.