Federal programs face an average 9.3-percent increase in health-benefit premiums next year. The government pins the blame largely on the accelerating cost of prescription drugs.
A new report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute named an interesting component of prescription-drug cost hikes. According to EBRI, the number of new prescriptions per office visit increased 15 percent from 1993 to 1997, though the share of visits that resulted in a new prescription rose only slightly. EBRI says the discrepancy is explained by the fact that some people are walking out with many more prescriptions; it noted a 75-percent hike in the share of visits that resulted in five or more new prescriptions.
Paul Lendner ist ein praktizierender Experte im Bereich Gesundheit, Medizin und Fitness. Er schreibt bereits seit über 5 Jahren für das Managed Care Mag. Mit seinen Artikeln, die einen einzigartigen Expertenstatus nachweisen, liefert er unseren Lesern nicht nur Mehrwert, sondern auch Hilfestellung bei ihren Problemen.