Cost containment for treating hypertension in African Americans: impact of a combined ACE inhibitor-calcium channel blocker.

The use of calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors has increased dramatically over the last 10 years and now accounts for 60% to 70% of all new antihypertensive prescriptions. Even though these two classes are efficacious, they are costly. Combined ACE inhibitor/CCB therapy (amlodipine-benazepril) was introduced in 1995. An analysis was done to assess the potential financial impact of substituting this agent for patients being treated with on ACE inhibitor/CCB combination. A pharmaceutical profile review of prescriptions during October 1995 was performed on 219 randomly selected patients enrolled in a Medicaid managed care program. Eighty-four profiles were analyzed; 24% of patients were on a combination ACE inhibitor/CCB regimen with an average monthly cost of $135. If the single agent amlodipine-benazepril with an average monthly cost of $45 (all strengths) was substituted, the savings would be considerable: $1080 per patient per year and $1,080,000 annualized for the calculated number of hypertensives on combination therapy in our network of 15,000 patients. Therapeutic substitution is one method of achieving cost containment in managed care. The cost differential between separately prescribed CCBs and ACE inhibitors and amlodipine-benazepril is significant. Compliance also should be enhanced as the patient would need to take only one pill daily. Once a patient has been maintained on a stable dose of a CCB/ACE inhibitor, substitution with amlodipine-benazepril should be considered.