42231 Trends In Price for Topical Corticosteroids from 2017-2021 and the Opportunity for Cost Savings Identifiable at the Point of Care: a Retrospective Study

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

9-19-2023

Publication Title

J Am Acad Dermatol

Abstract

Background: Topical corticosteroids possess numerous generics and similar strength substitutes. Knowledge of affordability and costs can impact the ability of patients to obtain the medication prescribed. Methods: We analyzed all prescriptions dispensed for topical corticosteroids from January 2017 through December 2021 using an all-payer pharmacy-claims database across 54,078 chain and independent pharmacies in 13,465 zip codes in 50 states in addition to a commercial coupon dataset. Results: A total of 236 unique drug products (> 1 claim) were identified. Branded ultrapotent corticosteroids had the highest price per unit (median[interquartile range]: $18.02 [$9.35-18.45]) while generic medium potency corticosteroids had the lowest ($2.17 [$1.01-3.88]). Factors that predicted for higher cost (p<0.05) were branded products (105% more expensive) and ultrapotent class (57% more expensive) while ointments predicted for lower cost (21% less expensive). Cash prices remained relatively stable during 2017-2021, with the exception being ultrapotent branded topical corticosteroids (63% increase). Cost savings from switching from commonly filled most expensive to least expensive alternative across all potency classes was $8.87 per unit, with the greatest savings for higher potency classes. Coupon prices for drugs are consistently lower than cash prices, with a correlation coefficient of 0.83. Conclusions: Topical corticosteroid prices over the past five years have stabilized, the exception being branded ultrapotent corticosteroids. The cheapest generics per potency class remained so over the five years. Savings from switching remain significant despite price stabilization. Coupon prices mirror the hierarchy of costs based on cash prices and can help assess real time cost of topical corticosteroids.

Volume

89

Issue

3

First Page

AB100

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