FRIDAY, July 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Out-of-pocket spending on epinephrine auto-injectors declined among privately insured patients in 2017, coinciding with the availability of cheaper non-branded products, according to a report published online. July 11 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Kao-Ping Chua, MD, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Rena M. Conti, Ph.D., of Boston University, used business claims to assess personal spending in autoepinephrine. injectors between 2015 and 2019. The analysis covered 657,813 patients (aged 0-64).

Researchers found that in 2015, 95.3% of refills were for branded products (EpiPen or Auvi-Q) compared to 11.2% in 2019. In 2017, the year after the release of the authorized generic EpiPen , non-branded products increased to 58% from rarely. used from 2015 to 2016. Average annual personal expenses increased from $115.80 in 2016 to $75.80 in 2019. Median personal expenses per two-pack in 2019 were $736 for Auvi-Q, $63 for Branded EpiPen, and $10 for each non-branded product. For 60.9% of patients, annual out-of-pocket expenses for epinephrine auto-injector refills in 2019 were $0 to $20, but for 7.5% of patients it was over $200. The median annual number of auto-injectors distributed was identical between these two groups of patients.

“The results suggest that patients who use only unbranded epinephrine auto-injectors may still face substantial cost sharing if plans use deductibles and coinsurance in drug benefits,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full text (subscription or payment may be required)