Don’t miss it: The 2022 Drug Data Trends & National Benchmarks report.

Year two of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the continuation of lower rates of prescribing for high-volume drugs such as antibiotics. As well, for the second year in a row, fewer insured individuals made any claims at all, reflecting the decreased frequency of medical appointments, reports the 2022 edition of the TELUS Health Drug Data Trends & National Benchmarks report. However, despite these pandemic-driven downward trends, the average monthly eligible amount per insured grew by the same amount in 2021 as it did in 2019, before the pandemic. As well, the average eligible amount per claim jumped by 8.9% in 2021, well above growth rates for the previous four years. Specialty drugs are the main driver of growth in costs. In the report, a new section on high-cost claimants reveals that two per cent of all claimants submitted eligible amounts totalling…