How many people reading this take a prescription drug? As we get older, it’s inevitable that we will take some prescription on a regular basis. However, more and more Americans who have chronic conditions who take prescription drugs are facing a situation of affordability – can they pay for their medication? The answer is not good as more people are finding it difficult to pay for their medication on a regular basis.
A study by Health System Change titled An Update on American’s Access to Prescription Drugs highlights the problem.
“Among all adults, prescription drug access problems rose markedly for adults with chronic conditions, increasing from 16.5 percent in 2001 to 18.3 percent in 2003. Partly because of higher prescription drug needs, adults living with chronic conditions in 2003 were twice as likely as those without chronic conditions to be unable to afford all of their prescription drugs”
So, supposed we have Joe who has a chronic heart problem. According to these statistics, there is a 20% chance that Joe won’t get his medication and part of the reason is cost. If Joe is a rich Republican, he’s fine. He and Paris Hilton got a tax break. But if Joe’s a regular person, he might be facing problems.
But Joe actually has insurance! Doesn’t that help? Nope.
“Between 2001 and 2003, the proportion of privately insured working-age adults (aged 18-64) with chronic health conditions who didn’t purchase all of their prescriptions because of cost concerns increased from 12.7 percent to 15.2 percent. In the past decade, prescription drug utilization and spending in the United States increased dramatically. In an effort to control rising prescription drug spending, health plans started using formularies more aggressively and increasing patients’ out-of pocket payment requirements. These policies likely are a key reason for the increase in prescription drug access problems for privately insured working-age Americans with chronic conditions.
Joe faces another double whammy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, his real wages (ages after inflation adjustments) have growth at a compound annual rate of .2% since 2000. According to Tracking Health Care Costs: Declining Growth Trend Pauses In 2004 by Health Affairs, prescription drug prices have increased an average of 4.7% over the same time while spending on prescription drugs has increased on average 11.44%. So, Joe is making about what he made in 2000 in terms of real wages, but he is probably spending more on prescription drugs whose prices are increasing faster than his income.
So let’s sum up. If you have a regular need for medication,
1.) You are twice as likely not to use medication to help with the condition.
2.) Having insurance is no answer.
3.) In addition, you are now making a little more money than you were 5 years ago, but we’re spending a lot more of prescription drugs whose prices are increasing faster than our wage growth.
Bush’s America
http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/738/
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.w5.286
Ridiculous. And customs agents are seizing prescription drugs from elderly Americans who cross the border to Canada.
Some of the older drugs, now in generic form, are quite inexpensive. They’re also safer.
But, some physicians are pressured to prescribe the newer expensive drugs, which also turn out to be dangerous quite often, particularly since the FDA is so beholden to the drug industry that its policing of dangerous side effects is very poor.
Every time I go to pick up a prescription, there seems to be someone there who cannot afford what they are trying to get. There is quite a variety of people. One was a a mother who got three days worth of antibiotics for her kid (instead of two weeks worth). Another was an elderly man who just walked away from the counter with nothing, after the clerk told him the cost was close to $200. It appeared to be one months worth of a new prescription.
I used to see this all the time when I lived in California. All the time.
I rely on a daily medication for allergies. When I was on Medicare/Medicaid five years ago, it cost me $5/mo. When I got married and “moved up” to my husband’s insurance coverage, the cost doubled. Now, five years later, the cost has been doubled again. Just to be clear:
1999 – Government Insurance = $5
2000 – Private Insurance = $10
2002 – Private Insurance = $15
2005 – Private Insurance = $20
Fortunately, I can still afford $20/mo. But, there was a time when I was on eight medications daily and there’s no way I could fork out $160/mo now. No way. I would have to weigh which ones were most needed and forgo the rest.
I’m currently completing my PharmD degree, and I just wanted to add that the latest trend in independent drug studies (ie, not necessarily paid for and designed by the drug company) involves people taking their blood pressure or other medications every other day, instead of once daily, because so many people are taking their medications that way because of the high cost (I think the majority of prescriptions are priced at around $100/month or more, if there is no generic available).
A sad state of affairs.
I’m taking a less effective medication for high blood pressure because my insurance wouldn’t pay anything for the better drug that I was taking (samples from Dr.) My Dr wrote the prescription for 10 mil. and since I only need five I cut each pill in half. It’s the same cost to me and I save $50 per month. A friend who has no insurance gets her prescriptions filled by a nephew who travels down to Mexico for her every few months. I used to get my birth control pills online from Venezuela.