As managed care control loosens, hospital costs outpace pharmacy

MANAGED CARE November 2001. ©MediMedia USA

Growth in per-capita spending on prescription drugs decelerated in 2000 (though it moved upward again in the first quarter of 2001), compared with 1999, reversing a six-year trend in which spending increases rose steadily from 5.2 percent annually to 18.4 percent. The study cites the spread of three-tier formularies as a possible reason for the decline in the rate of increase.

SOURCE: MILLIMAN USA HEALTH COST INDEX