People enrolled in health plans through the Affordable Care Act exchanges are ramping up their use of prescription medications more rapidly than those in employer or government-sponsored plans, according to a new report from Express Scripts, the largest prescription drug benefits company.
In 2015, people in the exchanges increased their number of prescriptions filled by 8.6 percent, four times the rate of people who receive insurance through commercial plans outside of the exchanges. That, along with price increases, led to a 14.6 percent jump in drug spending for people in the exchanges, nearly three times faster than all drug spending. The findings are based on Express Scripts data, which includes about a third of the pharmacy claims filled by all people insured through the exchanges.
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