Real world data: the economic impact of including oral antineoplastic agents for health care providers in the Brazilian Supplementary Health System

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the monthly increase in the cost per member of incorporating all oral neoplastic therapies if approved the bill 6,330/2019. Methods: The clinical characteristics and medications used by patients undergoing cancer treatment were collected from the real-world Auditron® database, a platform for evaluating requests for pre-authorization of medical procedures. Based on the characteristics of each patient, the possibility of using oral antineoplastic drugs according to the NCCN and ESMO guidelines was evaluated. The incremental cost calculation was performed using the total number of patients diagnosed with a specific neoplasm and the number of patients eligible to receive oral anticancer drugs. CMED price list was used to calculate drug acquisition costs. Results: The incremental cost of incorporating 34 neoplastic drugs in 2019 was R$ 5,362,642,580 (R$ 3,944,321,786- R$ 6,483,413,466), representing a monthly impact of R$ 9.50 per member. The incremental cost of incorporating 21 neoplastic drugs in 2021 was R$ 2,028,538,791 (R$ 1,485,919,710-R$ 3,016,407,794), representing a monthly impact of R$ 3.59 per beneficiary. Conclusion: The incorporation of oral anticancer drugs in the coverage of health plans following international and national treatment guidelines would result in a low monthly increase in the cost per beneficiary.