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Key Findings
For the 50 drugs most frequently prescribed to seniors, VA prices were consistently lower than the lowest discount card price. The median price difference was $220.44 for a year of treatment.
VA Prices Significantly Lower
The VA price was lower than the lowest Medicare discount card price for 49 (98 percent) of the 50 most frequently prescribed drugs.
- For more than one-third of the top drugs (19 drugs), the lowest Medicare discount card price was at least twice the lowest VA price.
- For more than one-fifth of the drugs (11 drugs), the lowest Medicare discount card price was more than three times the lowest VA price.
- For four drugs, the lowest Medicare discount card price was more than five times the lowest VA price.
Significant Price Differences
Not only were VA prices consistently lower, but the differences between VA prices and Medicare discount card prices were often significant. The median price difference was $220.44 for a year’s treatment.
- For the 10 highest-cost drugs—all drugs for which the lowest annual Medicare discount card cost was more than $900—the median price difference between the discount card and the VA was $360.96.
- For eight of the highest-cost drugs, the discount card prices were more than $300 higher than the VA price. For two of those drugs, the Medicare discount card prices were more than $700 higher than the VA price.
- For the 10 most frequently prescribed drugs, the median price difference between the discount card and the VA was $285.60.
VA Prices Lower for Both Brand-Name and Generic Drugs
The VA prices were consistently lower for both brand-name and generic drugs.
- Forty-one of the top 50 drugs were brand-name drugs. For 40 of those drugs, the lowest Medicare discount card prices exceeded the lowest VA price. For the 41 brand-name drugs, the median difference between the lowest discount card price and the lowest VA price was 46.6 percent.
- Nine of the top 50 drugs were generics. For all of those drugs, the lowest Medicare discount card price exceeded the lowest VA price. The median difference between the lowest discount card price and the lowest VA price was 181.8 percent.
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