Mail-order drug provider identifies $163B in potential prescription drug savings

A study by Express Scripts, a mail-order prescription drug provider, said Tuesday that an "estimated $163 billion in health care spending could be saved each year if patients took their medicines as prescribed, chose generic drugs and other low-cost alternatives, and had their prescriptions delivered by mail," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Express Scripts released its report at a two-day conference for clients in St. Louis.

"According to the report, Illinois — along with New York, California, and Texas — was among the states with the highest percentage of wasteful health care spending per capita. … For the first time, Express Scripts' annual study, called the 'Drug Trend Report,' focused on behavioral factors that influence the wasteful spending of health care dollars, rather than focusing on market forces" (Doyle, 4/21).