Medicare overspending on anemia drug

[xchrom]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/medicare-overspending-on-anemia-drug/2012/08/09/106503a2-dbf8-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.html


Paul Sakuma/AP - FILE - This April 21, 2010 file photo shows an exterior view of the Amgen Inc. offices and its logo in Fremont, Calif. Amgen Inc. is expected to report quarterly earnings Thursday, July 29, 2010, after the market close. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

The U.S. health-care system is vastly overspending for a single anemia drug because Medicare overestimates its use by hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to an analysis of federal data. The overpayment to hospitals and clinics arises because Medicare reimburses them based on estimates rather than the actual use of the drug.

The government for years has tried to rein in spending on the prescription drug, Epogen, which had ranked some years as the most expensive drug to taxpayers through the Medicare system.

Medicare’s current estimates are based on Epogen usage in 2007 for dialysis treatments. But since then, use of the drug has fallen 25 percent or more, partly because of Food and Drug Administration warnings about its perils and partly because Congress removed the financial incentives for clinics and hospitals to prescribe the drug. Because Medicare continues to reimburse health-care providers as if the dosing levels haven’t changed, the significant savings in doses has not translated into savings for the U.S. Treasury.

The amount of the overspending is more than $400 million annually, according to calculations done separately by The Washington Post and experts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/amgen-anemia-drugs/index.html

The rise and fall of a billion-dollar drug

Amgen and Johnson & Johnson earned billions on the trio of anemia drugs Epogen, Procrit and Aranesp since their introduction in 1989. But over time, an understanding of their risks has grown, as have doubts about their effectiveness. Amgen says it acted quickly and responsibly as its understanding of the drugs evolved. (Read related story.)

*** some good graphs at link

[sendero]

1. Someone close to me..

... has to take this drug and trust me it is EXPENSIVE. Like hundreds of dollars per dose.

While we are talking about Medicare scams, if I were in congress I would draft a simple bill.

It would say "any product advertised on television or any other commercial medium as being available to Medicare patients at no cost to them will immediately have it's payout (reimbursement) cut by 20%. If a company can afford to advertise a chair or diabetes supplies or CPAP supplies and still make a profit off of a Medicare reimbursement, then by definition Medicare is reimbursing too much".

[xchrom]

2. i have a particular loathing for advertising for medicine.

i'm not a doctor -- my understanding of medical science is limited -- most peoples are.

appealing to ME about a particular medicine i may or may not need -- is just dangerous and foolish.