Patients' drug costs surge for some neurologic conditions

- Many patients with neurologic disorders like multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease have seen steep increases in their out-of-pocket costs for drugs in recent years, a U.S. study suggests.

Patients' cumulative out-of-pocket costs over the first two years after diagnosis were US$2,238 for multiple sclerosis, 10-fold higher than the US$230 paid out-of-pocket by newly diagnosed epilepsy patients. Multiple sclerosis patients with the highest costs spent US$9,855 over two years, compared to US$865 for epilepsy.

With high-deductible health plans, people paid more than twice as much out-of-pocket for multiple sclerosis drugs. In 2016, multiple sclerosis patients with high-deductible plans paid an average of US$661 per month compared to US$246 per month for those in low-deductible plans. It's also unclear from the study how much rising out-of-pocket costs might lead patients to delay or skip needed refills, or how much expensive drugs might help curb utilization or spending on hospital or physician services, said Geoffrey Joyce, chair of pharmaceutical and health economics at the University of California School of Pharmacy in Los Angeles.

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