Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1987 Fall;9(1):83-9.

Outpatient prescription drug spending by the Medicare population

D R Waldo

Outpatient prescription drug spending by the Medicare population

D R Waldo. Health Care Financ Rev. 1987 Fall.

Abstract

Legislation proposed in the 100th Congress and debated during the summer of 1987 would cover prescription drug spending by Medicare enrollees after the enrollee had met a deductible. However, at the time that the legislation was proposed, there were no comprehensive estimates of the extent of current expenditures for prescription drugs by that population, nor of the expected cost of the proposed coverage. In this article, the author estimates "current-law" drug spending by Medicare enrollees. A distribution around the average expenditure is developed, demonstrating the proportion of users that exceed any given annual expenditure and the proportion of total expenditures comprised by spending in excess of that "deductible."

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Annual prescriptions per capita for the aged population: 1967-91
Figure 2
Figure 2. Constant-dollar cost per prescription for the aged population: 1967-91
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Deacon R. Current Medicare Survey report: Supplementary Medical Insurance: Characteristics of aged institutionalized enrollees, 1973. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office; Oct. 1977. HEW Pub. No. (SSA) 78-11702. Social Security Administration.
    1. Ginsburg P, Curtis M. Choice of Demand Parameters for Congressional Budget Office National Health Insurance Cost Estimates. Congressional Budget Office; Washington, D.C.: Nov. 1978. Unpublished memorandum.
    1. Grindstaff G, Hirsch B, Silverman H. Medicare—Use of Prescription Drugs by Aged Persons Enrolled for Supplementary Medical Insurance, 1967-1977 Health Care Financing Program Statistics. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office; Mar. 1981. HCFA Pub. No. 03080. Office of Research, Demonstrations, and Statistics, Health Care Financing Administration.
    1. Health Care Financing Administration, Office of the Actuary. Health Care Financing Review. No. 4. Vol. 8. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office; Aug. 1987. National health expenditures, 1986-2000. HCFA Pub. No. 03239. Office of Research and Demonstrations, Health Care Financing Administration.
    1. Koch H. Vital and Health Statistics. No. 65. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office; Mar. 1982. Drug utilization in office-based practice, a summary of findings: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: United States, 1980. (13). DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 83-1726. National Center for Health Statistics, Public Health Service. - PubMed

MeSH terms