ABSTRACT
In 2001, the United States spent a total of 1.4 trillion dollars on health care (1). This comprised approximately 14.1% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). Much of this spending has resulted from the increased development and utilization of sophisticated health-care therapies, technology, and services. While these advances in care empower health-care providers with new and effective means with which to prevent and treat disease, health-care resources are not unlimited (2). Fifty-two million Americans are without health-care coverage due primarily to rising costs and subsequent employer curtailment of health-care benefits, and many other Americans are sharing a high burden of the cost of healthcare in the forms of higher deductibles, copayments, and fees (1,3). As our nation struggles to provide more comprehensive care for all its citizens, the health-care system will have to find ways to meet the increased demands with the limited resources available. One of the first such hurdles that will have to be addressed will result from the approval of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), which calls for the provision of a basic prescription benefit to Medicare beneficiaries starting in 2006 (4). With the creation of the MMA, the impetus to provide cost-conscious healthcare, particularly relating to pharmaceutical products and services, has never been greater.
