Statin Medication Acquisition Among Medicare Beneficiaries 1992-2002

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the relationship of price and prevalence of statins when new mediations enter the market and when old medications are withdrawn from the market. Methods: Patients that received a statin were enrolled in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) from 1992 to 2002. The overall prevalence of each statin as well as the prevalence of each statin for a patient’s drug coverage (no coverage, Medicaid, Medigap, employer coverage, or other public coverage) were analyzed. Results: The overall prevalence of statin was statistically significant for 1992 versus 2002 (p<0.001). When atorvastatin came to the market towards the end of 1996, there was no difference between simvastatin (p=0.24) and pravastatin (p=0.12) in 1997 versus 1998. Conclusions: There was a difference in the prevalence of statins when atorvastatin entered the market. When cerivastatin left the market, there was a difference in the prevalence of statin use. Atorvastatin became the most prevalent statin by the end of 2002. The price of statins appeared to decrease over time from $39.01 in 1992 to $31.95 in 2002. Also, the year atorvastatin was released the average price of statins increased to $36.57 in 1997.