WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. taxpayers reportedly could save tens of millions of dollars annually if Medicaid drug prices for the poor were consistent.
An analysis of 28 drugs by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General says Medicaid pays a wide range of prices for the same drug.
In 2001, the year from which data were analyzed, Medicaid could have saved more than $86 million, the Chicago Tribune said.
Although the savings is a fraction of the more than $20 billion Medicaid spends each year on drugs, authors of the report were concerned about the rapid rise in pharmaceutical costs.
As a possible solution, the report encouraged the federal Medicaid administrator, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to "share more accurate drug pricing information with states," among other recommendations.
