Thursday, 19 April 2007
Pay For Drugs? Study Finds Many Patients Would Rather Go Without
A study by pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts has found that many patients required to pay for their prescriptions stopped taking their medications entirely.
The study looked at patients in high-deductible plans, many of which do not offer drug coverage. Patients are encouraged to switch to the less expensive generic versions of popular drugs.
“That deductible makes people buy fewer drugs, that's the key finding here,” said Express Scripts vice president Glenn Moller.
The study compiled prescription drug claims for two large employees that began offering high-deductible plans at the beginning of 2006. Claims from the first 9 months of 2006 were then compared to claims from the same period in 2005.
The employees also paid a higher percentage of their drug costs in 2006, resulting in fewer prescriptions being filled. One of the employer’s costs for employee prescription benefits was reduced by 62%. The other employer’s costs were reduced by 24%.
Technorati Tags: Health Insurance Prescription Drugs
