Skip to main content
Toggle menu

Search the website

Price Concessions - why are the excess costs lower in November than October 2017?

Posted:
Written by:
Categories:

We’ve taken a quick look at the data to see why, despite the number of price concession lines have increased to 91 in November, the estimated total excess cost has reduced. (Reminder - we’ve used September prescribing data to estimate the effects, as that’s the latest data available).

The full table is below, but here are some highlights:

  1. Some of the price concessions have reduced since October. For example, olanzapine 10mg tabs have dropped considerably, from £62/box to under £27/box - although the tariff price has increased from just over £1/box at the beginning of the year. The same applies for gabapentin and amlodipine 10mg tablets.
  2. Some items, such as pramiprexole 88mcg tablets have been removed as a price concession, although once again the tariff price has increased significantly.
  3. Although there are eight new chemicals listed in price concessions, these haven’t a huge impact: topiramate being the largest new cost pressure at around half a million pounds estimated in November.

As always, you can find our Drug Tariff viewer at www.openprescribing.net/tariff. We’d love to know what you think about the work we’re doing, or anything to do with the OpenPrescribing tool. Please let us know on Twitter, our Facebook page, or via email at feedback@openprescribing.net.

Full list of changes by chemical substance

Chemical October Excess Cost November Excess Cost Difference
Olanzapine £4,650,577 £563,376 -£4,087,201
Gabapentin £4,590,611 £2,525,901 -£2,064,710
Amlodipine £8,249,028 £6,303,377 -£1,945,650
Quetiapine £6,099,777 £4,589,059 -£1,510,718
Hydroxychloroquine £1,029,629 £241,648 -£787,981
Citalopram £2,548,918 £1,849,572 -£699,347
Chlorpromazine £1,334,007 £694,027 -£639,980
Tramadol £883,339 £323,891 -£559,448
Levetiracetam £5,049,677 £4,561,671 -£488,006
Vitamin B £1,330,219 £917,107 -£413,111
Sumatriptan £1,065,412 £660,682 -£404,730
Betahistine £310,154 £45,091 -£265,064
Pregabalin £1,967,154 £1,764,203 -£202,951
Atorvastatin £269,977 £74,599 -£195,378
Eplerenone £1,623,341 £1,428,741 -£194,600
Exemestane £589,488 £413,812 -£175,676
Pramipexole £163,807 -£163,807
Mefenamic £1,333,672 £1,171,818 -£161,853
Zolmitriptan £190,676 £59,699 -£130,978
Anastrozole £699,941 £569,300 -£130,642
Rasagiline £183,892 £93,199 -£90,692
Tolterodine £85,246 -£85,246
Duloxetine £1,862,639 £1,781,760 -£80,879
Desogestrel £131,892 £55,211 -£76,681
Valsartan £74,280 -£74,280
Colecalciferol £27,989 -£27,989
Sodium Cromoglicate £347,094 £332,713 -£14,381
Dapsone £13,232 £1,786 -£11,446
Buspirone £12,975 £6,252 -£6,723
Haloperidol £86,615 £83,795 -£2,820
Terbinafine £1,187,790 £1,187,790 £0
Tranexamic £286,690 £286,690 £0
Amiloride £144,346 £144,346 £0
Oxazepam £168,987 £168,987 £0
Rizatriptan £131,271 £131,271 £0
Trimethoprim £46,038 £46,038 £0
Diamorphine £1,891 £1,891 £0
Enalapril £257,678 £297,320 £39,642
Lacidipine £52,344 £52,344
Losartan £103,135 £103,135
Aripiprazole £132,825 £132,825
Glimepiride £166,362 £166,362
Bicalutamide £19,272 £210,448 £191,176
Fexofenadine £229,328 £229,328
Mebeverine £244,455 £244,455
Perindopril £2,955,960 £3,201,785 £245,825
Venlafaxine £252,065 £252,065
Topiramate £415,249 £415,249