NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Medicare Part D beneficiaries who don't qualify to receive low-income subsidies often do not fill prescriptions for high-price specialty drugs, a new study finds.
An analysis of more than 17,000 prescriptions written between 2012 and 2018 for Part D beneficiaries revealed that patients receiving subsidies were nearly twice as likely as those without the subsides to obtain the prescribed drug within 90 days, researchers report in Health Affairs.
"We found that, among Medicare beneficiaries without subsidies, 30% did not fill their prescribed cancer treatments, 22% did not fill curative treatments for hepatitis C, and more than 50% did not fill disease-modifying therapies for immune system disorders or hypercholesterolemia," said Dr. Stacie B. Dusetzina of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Most did not fill any other new drug for their condition, either. We also found that people without subsidies were up to half as likely to fill their prescriptions as people who had subsidies that lowered their out-of-pocket costs," she told Reuters Health by email.
There is considerable danger to patients when they can't afford their medications.
"For cancer, hepatitis C, and immune system conditions - like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis - these drugs can delay disease progression or can even cure patients," Dr.
