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GPhA: New Analysis Highlights the Critical Role of Generics in Containing Health Care Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. (JULY 8, 2011) – The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) today cited a new analysis on the use of generic drugs in preventing chronic disease as further evidence of the vital role generic medications can play in reducing our country’s health care spending.

According to the analysis published this month in Health Affairs, the use of generic medications in reducing blood pressure to widely established clinical guidelines in nondiabetic patients saved the health care system more than 85 percent when compared to the use of brand drugs.

“At a time when those in Washington are looking across the board for savings in Medicare, Medicaid and the health care system as a whole, it is imperative that they realize the savings generics are already providing,” GPhA Executive Director Bob Billings said. “To this day, Medicare and Medicaid alone are unnecessarily spending billions of dollars by reimbursing pharmacies for costly brand products when generics with identical active ingredients, strengths, dosage forms and therapeutic benefits are available at a lower cost.”

Indeed, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, generic medications now account for 69 percent of prescriptions dispensed in Medicare, yet only 18 percent of the program’s drug spending.

“Safe, effective and affordable generics are an integral part of the solution in reducing costs,” Billings said. “With evidence of the dramatic savings generic drugs can generate becoming more prevalent every day, we urge lawmakers to consider policies that promote the use of these lifesaving medications.”

GPhA represents the manufacturers and distributors of finished generic pharmaceuticals, manufacturers and distributors of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, and suppliers of other goods and services to the generic industry. Generic pharmaceuticals fill 78 percent of the prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. but consume just 25 percent of the total drug spending. Additional information is available at gphaonline.org.

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