How to get your prescription drug renewed: What you need to know
How to renew a prescription drug (in more detail) A new survey by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has found that the number of Americans who were able to renew their prescription drugs rose by 1.5 million in January, the agency said on Monday.
That’s an increase of more than 11,000 from the previous month.
The number of prescriptions renewed in January was 6.7 million, up 5.4% from the same month last year, and the agency attributed that to the surge in use of the new drugs.
The drugmakers said the rise in prescription drug use could stem from the Affordable Care Act, which expanded the use of prescription drugs and helped boost drug use among older Americans and people with chronic health conditions.
More: Drugmakers are also trying to boost the number and quality of their products, which can make up for lost sales.
In January, drugmakers had a surplus of 4.6 million drugs, according to the agency.
The total inventory of new drugs is now more than the amount of old ones that they had in stock when they began issuing new prescriptions in January.
The surplus is the result of companies being able to add new products in the interim to make up the shortfall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The survey by CB Insights found that only one in five Americans aged 18 to 64 was able to receive a prescription in January that included a drug of their choice.
Only 7.3% of those aged 18-64 were able for that to be the first time.
Only 14.1% of adults aged 65 and older were able.
That percentage of Americans was up slightly from the prior month.