Contact: MN-APCD
Email: health.apcd@state.mn.us
The Minnesota Department of Health utilized claims data from the Minnesota All-Payer Claims Database (MNAPCD) to analyze pharmaceutical spending and use in the state between the years 2009 and 2013. After looking at trends in the number of drug claims, total spending, and spending per claim, this issue brief found that in the five year span, prescription drug spending rose 20.6 percent, with medical claims accounting for more than one-half (55.1 percent) of this growth. The study highlights how focusing only on pharmacy settings gives an incomplete, and potentially misleading, picture of drug spending and use trends and encourages future research to account for all sources of prescription drug spending.