US medicines spending rose 3.7% in 2011, held back by healthcare reforms, IMS study reveals

Total health care spending on medicines in the USA increased 3.7% to $320 billion in 2011, a year which saw the most medicines launched in a decade bringing new, transformative treatment options to more than 20 million Americans. At the same time, US patients overall visited their physicians less often and used fewer prescription drugs compared with 2010, according to a new report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.

The report, titled The Use of Medicines in the United States: Review of 2011, found that there were important variations across the country and by patient age in the use of health care services. Young people, aged 19-25, increased their use of prescription drugs as many for the first time were able to remain on their parents’ health insurance, while seniors aged 65 and over reduced their volume of prescriptions.

Additionally, the availability of new generic drugs in a number of chronic therapies contributed to a minimal increase in drug expenditures overall. On a real per capita basis, total health care system spending on medicines in 2011 was up just 0.5%.