Workers and their family members spent less on prescription drugs from 2009-14, thanks partly to Obamacare and more generic drugs, a new study found.
The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation’s findings showed that average annual out-of-pocket spending dropped from $167 in 2009 to $144 in 2014. However, drug spending by employer plans jumped in 2014, rising 13 percent from the year before.
The analysis comes as Medicare has spent more on pharmaceuticals and prices for some products have risen sharply. The Obama administration spent $121 billion on pharmaceuticals in 2014, a 17 percent increase from 2013.
Kaiser attributes some of the decline to Obamacare’s requirement that most plans fully cover birth control.
After that requirement went into effect, the percentage of women of reproductive age “with out-of-pocket contraceptive spending fell sharply, from 22 percent in 2012 to 3.7 percent in 2014,” Kaiser said Friday.
Kaiser attributed the decline from 2009-12 to a proliferation of generics taking the place of popular drugs that lost patent protection.
The analysis was based on claims provided by large employers and health plans from 2004-14.
