AAM Report Shows Patients Nearly Three Times More Likely to Leave Branded Drugs at the Pharmacy

Patients are 266 percent more likely to not pick up brand-name medications after requesting them at a pharmacy, compared to generic prescriptions, according to the Association for Accessible Medicine’s annual report.

Cost plays a significant role in abandonment, the AAM’s report said — 90 percent of generic copays are under $20, compared to 39 percent of branded copays, while generics accounted for nearly 3.9 billion of the 4.4 billion prescriptions dispensed last year. The rate of abandonment for branded drugs was 20.5 percent compared to 7.7 percent for generics in new patients.

In 2016, patients and payers saw $253 billion in savings from using generic prescriptions — with the largest amounts in mental health, high blood pressure and cholesterol treatments. In Medicare and Medicaid, savings increased compared to 2015, from $109.6 million to $114.9 million. Over the past decade, nationwide savings totaled $1.67 trillion.