Table 1.
Drugs responsible for 80% of the costs related to rheumatology prescriptions. Drugs are listed in descending mean annual cost per beneficiary in US dollars.
| Medication | % of costs | Total Number of Rheumatologist Prescribers | Mean Annual Medication Cost, $ | Mean Annual Cost per Beneficiary, $1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rACTH | 2.4 | 156 | 81,819,665 | 229,955 |
| Adalimumab | 18.1 | 3872 | 619,979,397 | 21,492 |
| Etanercept | 21.7 | 4068 | 740,776,562 | 20,728 |
| Infliximab | 15.8 | 1349 | 539,084,516 | 15,941 |
| Golimumab | 1.9 | 1124 | 66,218,740 | 15,476 |
| Rituximab | 1.8 | 490 | 108,285,621 | 15,173 |
| Certolizumab | 2.7 | 1051 | 91,209,539 | 13,941 |
| Abatacept | 6.8 | 1936 | 224,659,322 | 13,445 |
| Teriparatide | 1.9 | 1596 | 65,124,565 | 9,379 |
| Denosumab | 2.0 | 1671 | 69,004,446 | 1,268 |
| HCQ | 2.4 | 4664 | 82,781,282 | 362 |
| Methotrexate | 3.0 | 4721 | 103,695,961 | 358 |
| Prednisone | 0.5 | 4776 | 15,717,827 | 42 |
1
Defined as total drug cost divided by number of beneficiaries for the subset with available beneficiary counts (i.e., physicians with >10 beneficiaries per year)
rACTH, Repository corticotropin; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine