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Drugs — The Price of Popping Pills The cost of drugs and the amount of drugs we take continue to increase each year. Consider these facts:

• Iowans filled an average of 14.9 prescriptions per year and South Dakotans filled an average of 12.3 in 2010; the national average is 12 prescriptions per year¹
• The average number of retail prescriptions filled per person in the United States increased from 10.1 in 1999 to 12 in 2010²
• Prescription drug spending is expected to almost double by 2019, $234.1 billion in 2008 to $457.8 billion in 2019²
• The price for 100 commonly used brand and generic drugs increased by an average annual rate of 6.6 percent from 2006 through the first quarter of 2010; this is nearly double the 3.8 percent average annual increase in the consumer price index for medical goods and services³
• Prices for the 55 common brand name drugs increased by an annual average of 8.3 percent⁴
• Prices for the 45 common generics dropped by 2.6 percent annually³
• In 2010, the average copayment for a generic drug was $6.06 per prescription compared to $23.65 and $34.77 for preferred and non-preferred brand name drugs⁴
• Here's how much some popular drugs are going up in price:
  
  

  Drug Name	What It Treats	Price Increase3	Cost Per 30 Day Prescription3
  Lexapro	Depression	9.2%	$113
  Abilify	Psychosis	13.1%	$539
  Adderall XR	ADHD	10.3%	$180
  Singulair	Asthma	11.7%	$128
  Lipitor	High Cholesterol	12.2%	$128

What Wellmark Is Doing 

• Promoting greater use of generics by working with physicians to encourage prescribing generic drugs over brand-name drugs
• Lowering pharmacy costs by recently negotiating a better contract with its pharmacy benefits manager to further lower pharmacy costs
• Putting processes in place to determine the cost and effectiveness of new drugs compared to current drugs that treat the same condition
• Promoting the safe and effective use of prescription drugs to help prevent side effects

What You Can Do 

• Take generic drugs whenever possible; learn more about generic drugs 
• If you need to take a drug, ask your doctor or pharmacist if a generic is right for you; see how much you could save by taking a generic over a brand name drug 
• Say "no" to samples — especially when the sample is for a brand-name drug you'll be taking for several months; see how "free" samples could cost you more in the long run
• Ask your doctor if there are other things you can do than take a pill such as lose weight, exercise, or make changes in your diet (for example, less salt if your blood pressure is high)
• Don't pressure your doctor for a new drug you heard advertised on TV or in a magazine
• Use the Wellmark Drug List to find out if there are generic options
• Get unbiased information from Consumer Reports AdWatch , which calls out potentially misleading information in TV ads about specific prescription drugs

¹Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts. http://www.statehealthfacts.org, accessed October 2011

² Kaiser Family Foundation Prescription Drug Trends, May 2010

³ U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Prescription Drugs: Trends in Usual and Customary Prices for Commonly Used Drugs”, February 2011

⁴ IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics study “The Use of Medicines in the United States: Review of 2010"

⁵ Price increase and cost per 30 day prescription is based on the average cost per 30-day prescription, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, 10/1/2010 to 10/31/2011