title: [Development of pharmaceutical expenses  in German private health insurance].
abstract: Health Insurance costs in Germany have grown by 3 % p. a. over the last ten years and amount to approx. 280 bn EUR in 2009. While costs for stationary treatment as the largest cost category have been intensely analyzed over the past years, pharmaceutical expenses have been analyzed in less detail, mostly focusing on the Statutory Health Insurance side, even though pharmaceutical expenses have grown almost twice as much as costs for ambulant treatments. This research article therefore focuses on the question how pharmaceutical expenses in a large German private health insurance company are allocated with respect to age and indication groups, and how those have developed during the past four years. Therefore, the data of a private health insurance company with more than 600.000 customers was split into price and volume effects per age group to understand if price or volume drives the cost development. Additionally, the two largest indication groups are analyzed in detail. As a result, both price and volume effects drive an overall cost increase of 7,3 %. These effects are even stronger in older age groups. This strong cost increase is not sustainable for the German health insurance system over a longer period of time and will even further increase due to the ageing of the German population.
authors.affiliation: Forschungsverbund Public Health Sachsen-Sachsen Anhalt e.V., Dresden. boeckingw@gmx.net
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Böcking
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tidelski
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Skuras
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kitzmann
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zuehlke
mesh_terms: D017850:Economics, Pharmaceutical; D005858:Germany; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017149:Private Sector / Q000191:economics*