How Do Prescription Drugs Affect the Use of Other Health Services?

The brief’s key findings are:

• Medicare Part D, introduced in 2006, has increased spending on prescription drugs for the elderly, but its impact on other health spending is unclear.
• The analysis addresses this issue by examining the use of other health care before and after Part D was introduced.
• The results show that the impact of Part D varied by the type of service:
  • It significantly increased spending on office visits, for purposes such as monitoring the effects of the drugs.
  • But it may have decreased spending on hospital visits by reducing the need for more intensive care, such as surgery.
• Further research is needed to detect any changes in health spending that may only show up in the longer term.