Increasingly more frequent and higher priced physician dispensing continued to be the major reason for the higher and growing prescription costs in Florida’s workers’ compensation system.  To help you better understand this and other cost drivers, WCRI is pleased to present our new study – Prescription Benchmarks for Florida, 2nd Edition. This study, the second in an annual series of prescription benchmarks reports, compares the cost, price, and utilization of prescription drugs in Florida with 16 states.  For those engaged in workers’ compensation public policy debates, this study provides detailed comparisons that may be useful when debating such issues as:

• Pharmacy fee schedules,
• Physician prescribing patterns,
• Medical cost drivers,
• Laws that mandate the use of generics when available, and
• Laws that regulate physician dispensing of prescription drugs at the office.

The study will also be useful for those seeking a more in depth understanding of prescription drug costs and utilization across states.

The 16 other states included in this study are California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.   

The study is based on claims with more than seven days of lost time that had injuries occurring between October 2006 and September 2007 and prescriptions filled through March 2008 for interstate comparisons.  Claims with an average of 12 months of experience were used for the trend analysis.  The reader should be cautioned that the results based on an average 12 months of experience understate the ultimate value of the metrics that depict quantities and costs.

Prescription Benchmarks for Florida, 2nd Edition. Dongchun Wang and Te-Chun Liu. July 2011. WC-11-32.

Copyright: WCRI