| More upstate New York residents are using generic rather than brand-name drugs -- a trend that saved $130 million last year, according to a study released last month.
The study, done by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, found that the rate of prescriptions filled with generic drugs went up from about 54 percent in October 2005 to just over 60 percent this October.
"This is a good trend," said Arthur Levin, executive director of the Center for Medical Consumers, a Manhattan-based nonprofit group. "It makes a lot of sense to use cheaper drugs that are the medical and chemical equivalent of more expensive drugs."
Helping to drive the numbers is the fact that most insurance companies require a higher co-payment from patients for brand-name drugs than for generics.
In addition, generic versions of several well-known drugs came on the market this year, said Joel Owerbach, chief pharmacy officer for Excellus.
He mentioned the anti-cholesterol drugs Zocor and Pravachol and the anti-depressant Zoloft as among those widely used medications for which a generic equivalent became available in 2006.
"(In) 2006, we had generics for several high-volume drugs come on the market," he said. "That certainly helped." He said about 200,000 people in the upstate areas Excellus serves (where the total is about 5 million) take those three drugs. He said consumers saved about $30 million in lower co-pays over the period because of the increased use of generics. Excellus and most other health insurers require higher payments by consumers for brand-name drugs.
Taxpayers also saved because of lower payments for drugs for Medicare and Medicaid patients, he said.
Owerbach said 70 percent generic use is a reasonable goal and that New York is about in the middle of the pack of states in generic usage now.
There was no immediate response to the survey from the drug companies' trade group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers' Association of America. The group has maintained in the past that the higher brand-name prices are needed to support research to develop new drugs.
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