Impact of reference-based pricing of nitrates on the use and costs of anti-anginal drugs.

BACKGROUND: Reference-based pricing limits reimbursement for a group of drugs that are deemed therapeutically equivalent to the cost of the lowest-priced product within that group. We estimated the effect of reference-based pricing of nitrate drugs used for long-term prophylaxis on prescribing of and expenditures on nitrates and other anti-anginal drugs dispensed to senior citizens in British Columbia. METHODS: We assessed trends in the monthly …