Research Brief
Prescription Drugs and the Elderly: Policy Implications of Medicare Coverage
Jan 1, 1999
The Financial Burden of Prescription Drug Use Among Elderly Persons
Published In: The Gerontologist, v. 37, no. 4, Aug. 1997, p. 475-482
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Access further information on this document at gerontologist.gerontologyjournals.orgThis article was published outside of RAND. The full text of the article can be found at the link above.
Expenditures for prescription drugs are not covered by Medicare and are thus a potential source of large out-of-pocket expenditures for elderly persons. This study, using a new data source, the 1990 Elderly Health Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), demonstrates that, among elderly persons, insurance coverage for drugs reduces the fraction of household income spent on prescription drugs by 50 percent. Groups most likely to benefit from insurance coverage are elderly women and those with common chronic conditions, low incomes, and rural residences.
Access further information on this document at gerontologist.gerontologyjournals.org
This article was published outside of RAND. The full text of the article can be found at the link above.
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