prescription drug costs News

Consulting Firm Mckinsey Agrees to $78M Settlement with Insurers over Opioids

Consulting firm McKinsey and Co. has agreed to pay $78 million to settle claims from insurers and health care funds that its work with drug companies helped fuel an opioid addiction crisis. The agreement was revealed late Friday in documents …

Drug Middlemen Face State Probes Over Complex Pricing System

Several states are probing pharmacy-benefit managers’ business practices in government-sponsored health programs, adding to the scrutiny the middlemen face in Washington for their role in the cost of drugs. At least three state attorneys general are investigating PBMs, in addition …

Insurers’ Spending on Costly Prescription Drugs Soared Between 2003-14

The latest study of medicine prices finds U.S. insurers’ spending on expensive prescription drugs nearly quadrupled from 2003 through 2014, when the number of such prescriptions filled tripled. Spending on expensive “specialty” drugs by commercial insurance plans jumped from 11 …

Why Drugs Cost 3 Times More in the U.S.

U.S. prices for the world’s 20 top-selling medicines are, on average, three times higher than in Britain, according to an analysis carried out for Reuters. The finding underscores a transatlantic gulf between the price of treatments for a range of …

Specialty Drugs Driving Up Prescription Costs: Express Scripts

Prescription drugs spending jumped 13 percent last year, the biggest annual increase since 2003, according to the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits manager. Express Scripts Holding Co. said that the jump was fueled in part by pricey specialty drugs that accounted …

Report: Workers’ Comp Claim Age Biggest Driver of Pharmacy Trends

“As a claim ages the cost of pharmacy to claim will increase over time,” said Jim Andrews, senior vice president of Healthcare Solutions’ Pharmacy Services Unit, citing results from the 2012 Workers’ Compensation Drug Trends Report. The company’s second annual …