US Drug Savings From Equal Discount Access

Rising US prescription drug prices could decline by as much as 12% if community retail pharmacists get equal access to pharmaceutical manufacturers' discounts, according to National Association of Chain Drug Stores president Ron Ziegler.

An independent analysis conducted by the PRIME Institute of the University of Minnesota also discovered that if discriminatory pricing practices by drugmakers were ended, similar savings are estimated for the prescription drug program component of the Medicaid program. The Institute estimates that Medicaid could save over $360 million in 1996 if there were equal access. Additionally, NACDS' PRIME Index found that for the fourth quarter of 1994, the annual rate of increase for the top 500 prescription drugs sold in community retail pharmacies was 3.9%, or 44% greater than the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation last year.

Price Rises For More Products The percentage of products in the top 500 experiencing price increases in fourth-quarter 1994 was 18.4%, against 17.6% for the same quarter last year. More products in the top 500 group experienced price changes in the second, third and fourth quarters of last year compared to the corresponding periods of 1993, the analysis showed.