HealthDay News — According to a study published on August 23, 2016 in the American Journal of Public Health, millions of Americans still have difficulty affording prescription medications, despite a growing number of those who now can.
At the recession’s height in 2009, over 25 million Americans said they had not filled a prescription in the previous year because they couldn’t afford it, an analysis of federal government data showed. Between 1999 and 2009, every age group, except seniors, found prescription drugs increasingly difficult to afford. Among seniors, the problem was worst in 2004, when 5.4% were unable to afford their medicine. In 2006, once the new Medicare Part D program was in place, that number fell to 3.6%, the researchers found.
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Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, most groups now have greater ability to afford prescription drugs. For example, the percentage of 19- to 25-year-old people who couldn’t afford to fill a prescription fell from 10.8% in 2010 to 8.2% in 2011, as the Affordable Care Act let young adults remain on their parents’ health insurance. Among 26- to 64-year-old people, the percentage who struggled to afford prescriptions fell from 9.1% in 2013 to 7.9% in 2014, the researchers found.
However, the study authors estimate that 16.4 million Americans still find it hard to afford prescriptions. That number could be reduced if more states opted to participate in Medicaid expansion, they suggested.
Reference
Kennedy J, Wood EG. Medication Costs and Adherence of Treatment Before and After the Affordable Care Act: 1999-2015. Am J Public Health. 2016; e1-e4. [Epub ahead of print]
