Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features Express Scripts’ announcement of the release of the 10th annual edition of its Workers’ Comp Drug Trends Report, which found that rising drug prices contributed to a 2.2% increase in pharmacy spending for workers’ comp payers in 2015.
According to the report, opioids continue to be the most costly medications, however overall spending for opioids decreased nearly 5% as utilization decreased by almost 11%. On average, injured workers received 2.91 opioid prescriptions per year for 2015, a decrease from from 3.33 in 2014. Also of note was that for the third year in a row, compounded products were among the top 10 therapy classes as ranked by total spending. Finally, while they make up only 1% of all medications used by injured workers, rapidly rising prices for specialty drugs are becoming a concern.
Find out more (including a link to the free report!) by clicking here!