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. 1998 Fall;20(1):83–126.

Figure 16. Growth in Nominal Expenditures and Use/Intensity for Prescription Drugs: Calendar Years 1991-97.

Figure 16

Despite slow spending growth for other services, spending for prescription drugs has been growing at double-digit rates.

  • Retail spending for prescription drugs amounted to $78.9 billion in 1997. Over the past several years, spending for prescription drugs has grown at double-digit rates: 10.6 percent for 1995, 13.2 percent for 1996, and 14.1 percent for 1997.
  • Growth in the number of prescriptions dispensed, up 6.0 percent in 1995 and 4.2 percent in both 1996 and 1997, are well above historical rates of 2.0 percent (IMS America, 1998). This suggests that part of the recent rapid increase in pharmacy expenditures was attributable to growth in utilization.