MANAGED CARE April 2008. ©MediMedia USA
Forty-one percent of adults report difficulty paying for the prescription drugs they need, and more than a third of them say it is a serious problem, according to a survey conducted by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University School of Public Health. Nearly 80 percent of those polled said that the cost of prescription drugs is unreasonable.
MollyAnn Brody, vice president for public opinion and media at Kaiser Family Foundation, says, “It’s a shame because our survey also showed that people believe their prescriptions do work and were prescribed to improve their health. But the reality is that a significant number of people are having a hard time paying.”
For patients who need to take more than four prescription drugs, those who don’t have insurance to pay for prescription drugs, and those with low incomes, paying for prescription drugs is problematic. Not filling a prescription because of cost and skipping doses are more common in this group.
Difficulty paying for prescription drugs
Source: USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health. The public on prescription drugs and pharmaceutical companies. March 2008