This paper presents findings from a study evaluating who may be using $4 programs and identifying potential national savings from broad use of these programs.
Doctor-patient communication is strongly associated with use of patient assistance programs; this link has important implications for clinical care regardless of whether the programs are viewed as drivers of prescription costs or a remedy for them.
This article uses matched survey and administrative data to estimate, as of 2006, the size of the population eligible for the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), which was designed to provide "extra help" with premiums, deductibles, and copayments for Medicare Part D beneficiaries with low income and limited assets.
Describes the effects that prescription drug cost sharing has on drug spending, compliance with drug therapy, patient health, and overall health care costs.
Investigates two mechanisms by which governments may influence pharmaceutical research and development priorities: (1) public funding for life sciences research; and (2) prescription drug insurance, as in Medicare Part D.
The program created to provide Medicare recipients with prescription drug benefits exceeded expectations during its first two years, extending pharmacy coverage to most seniors while reducing their overall spending on drugs.
The program created to provide Medicare recipients with prescription drug benefits exceeded expectations during its first two years, extending pharmacy coverage to most seniors while reducing their overall spending on drugs.
Describes a study showing that increasing copayments for prescription drugs causes patients newly diagnosed with hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes to delay starting treatment, which in turn increases their risk for heart attack and stroke.
This dissertation consists of three stand-alone essays that focus on the economics of preserving health among vulnerable population, specifically chronic ill and elderly population.
In 2003, Congress added a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program known as Part D and a Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) for some Part D beneficiaries. About 29 percent were eligible for the LIS in 2006 but there is considerable uncertainty around this estimate.
The authors test whether insurers that experience larger enrollment increases due to Medicare Part D negotiate lower drug prices with pharmacies. Overall, the authors find that 100,000 additional insureds lead to 2.5-percent lower pharmacy prices negotiated by the insurer, and 5-percent reductions in pharmacy profits earned on prescriptions filled by enrollees of that insurer.
Using data from 335,249 Medicare beneficiaries who responded to the 2007 Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey, along with data from 22 cognitive interviews, the authors investigated the reliability and validity of an instrument designed to assess beneficiaries' experiences with their prescription drug plans.
Controlling prescription drug prices is one way to lower U.S. health costs, but it comes at a cost for future generations. While imposing European-style prescription drug price regulations in the United States would generate modest cost savings, it would impose a larger burden in the future by stifling medical innovation that can extend lives.
The pricing plans most people choose for their cell phones are simple: Pay one price and talk as much as you want. What if paying for your prescription drugs were as easy and appealing?, writes Dana P. Goldman.
Changing the way consumers pay for prescription drugs so that the system more closely resembles paying for cell phones or computer software could increase drug use without altering patients' out-of-pocket spending, health plan costs or drug company profits.
The pricing plans most people choose for their cell phones are simple: Pay one price and talk as much as you want. What if paying for your prescription drugs were as easy and appealing?
Changing the way consumers pay for prescription drugs so that the system more closely resembles paying for cell phones or computer software could increase drug use without altering patients' out-of-pocket spending, health plan costs or drug company profits.
A multi-pronged effort composed of mail screening (using the PHQ-2), self-reported antidepressant use, and claims diagnoses of depression may capture the greatest number of chronically ill Medicare enrollees with possible depression.
This research brief examines the likely effects of the gap in the Medicare Part D standard drug benefit after $2,400 in pharmaceutical spending, using data from a private employer.
This fact sheet summarizes a systematic review of published studies to analyze how the cost-sharing features of prescription drug benefits may affect access to prescription drugs and, consequently, health outcomes.
