With Medicare Plan, Drug Spending May Be Up

Researchers suspect overuse as a cause, but note that other costs are down WEDNESDAY, July 1 (HealthDay News) -- Older people who signed up for Medicare's prescription drug coverage, called Part D, spent more on drugs after enrolling than they had before but less on other types of medical care, researchers have found. Their study, in the July 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, also found that spending varied depending on the type of drug coverage participants had before enrolling in Part D. Although the report was not designed to look at improvements in health, another study on Part D, presented at the AcademyHealth meeting in Chicago, did. That research, from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals, found "small but statistically significant" improvements in health... [read full story]                    

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