50% of the money spent on brand name medicines in 2018 went to hospitals, health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, the government, and others – increasing from $24.7 billion to $48.6 billion between 2013 and 2018.
The tables below show: the Ten Most Costly Drugs in 2017 for Medicare Part D (Outpatient Prescriptions) and the Ten Most Costly Drugs in 2017 for Medicare Part B (Physician Administered Drugs); drug efficacy as determined by Cochrane Reviews, and comparative global prices obtained from internet sites. The patient and taxpayer pay for these drugs. If they are beneficial, we should use similar or identical drugs from other countries that cost significantly less.
The federal government, the biggest payer of cancer care, made cancer costs soar because Medicare pays an extra $6500 a year when chemotherapy is given to a patient in a hospital owned facility. Private insurers also pay a higher premium for care delivered in a hospital setting. The costs will keep spiraling upward because of Government intrusion and clever lobbyists, forcing cancer patients from private practitioners to hospital owned facilities incurring much higher costs.
