GAO report counts "extraordinary" generic price hikes

In a report released Monday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said 315 drugs in a basket of 1,441 established generics had at least one "extraordinary" price increase under Medicare Part D from 1Q10 to 1Q15, even as generic prices fell overall during the study's full length. The GAO defined an extraordinary price increase as a rise of at least 100% from any quarter to the same period the following year.

The extraordinary price increases "generally persisted" for at least a year, and "most had no downward movement," the report said. Some drugs had multiple extraordinary price hikes. There were 103 such price increases in 2014-15, compared with 45 during 2010-11. ...