Table 3.

Number of Dispensed Prescriptions, Percentage of Prescriptions Dispensed as Brand-Name, and Mean Cost Per Prescription^*

Variable	Oral Hypoglycemics		Long-Acting Insulin†		Statins		ACE Inhibitors/ARBs
	Medicare	VA	Medicare	VA	Medicare	VA	Medicare	VA
30-d prescriptions or units, n	10 385 905‡	5 098 778	2 875 278 349‡	1 978 168 710	6 095 802†	3 880 351	7 274 793‡	3 907 993
Mean prescriptions per patient  per year, n	13.3	13.5	12 400	17 393	9.1	10.1	9.9	10.5
Prescriptions for brand-name  drug, %	23.3	7.4	60.6	16.8	45.5	12.3	37.8	20.0
Mean cost per 30-d supply for  brand-name drug, $§	156.2	79.6	0.12	0.03	100.6	32.5	74.3	16.2
Mean cost per 30-d supply for  generic drug, $§	13.6	9.6	0.06	0.01	20.7	8.5	17.7	9.1

ACE = angiotensin-converting enzyme; ARB = angiotensin-receptor blocker; VA = Veterans Affairs.

^*“Medicare” refers to patients enrolled in fee-for-service Parts A and B and stand-alone Part D. “Statins” denotes 3-hydroxy-3-methyl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors.

^†Values are based on the number of units dispensed rather than the number of prescriptions. Mean costs are costs per unit for analogue (“brand”) and nonanalogue (“generic”) insulin.

^‡The number of prescriptions (insulin units) dispensed is for a 40% random sample Medicare denominator, and for our spending calculations, we multiplied by 2.5 to represent potential savings if applied to the entire fee-for-service Medicare Part D program.

^§Because VA costs typically include only ingredient costs and Medicare costs include total reimbursements to the pharmacy (i.e., plan payment, consumer copayment, and dispensing fee), we added patient copayments and an average dispensing fee to the cost of each VA prescription.