Costs cause many elderly not to comply with the prescribed drugs regime

Approximately 10% of Medicare beneficiaries are not in accordance with their prescribed drugs regime because they simply can't afford it, researchers from Harvard Medical School reported in the journal of cancer survivorship. They added that older Medicare patients, whether or not they have been treated for cancer, often skip taking a pill, so they can take longer, or refrain from completely fill a recipe because it's just too expensive.

The authors believe that their findings suggest that seniors with cancer or those who survived not under eyes more medical costs than other patients.

The increase in the cost of the medication occurred in parallel with an ageing population, leading to greater financial burden for the patient. Cancer costs have risen considerably. Patients treated for cancer face significant out-of-pocket expenses while they are diagnosed, treated and receiving follow-up care. Comorbidities are common among the survivors of cancer, which can be medications for diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia osteoporosis.

The researchers set out to understand what medication issues cancer patients must face. They gathered data from the 2005 Medicare current beneficiary survey and Medicare claims from 2005.

They looked at reasons why patients fail to fulfil their prescribed drug regime, stick or they can spend less on basic needs, or not even without their cash to cover medical costs. They analyzed both survivors of cancer and non-cancer patients.

Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov and colleagues found that the rate of cost-related non-adherence among those without cancer was 11%, compared with 10% for cancer survivors – not a statistically significant difference.

6% of cancer survivors said they spend less on food, heating and other basic needs to be able to pay for their medication, compared with 9% of the people without cancer. More than half of all Medicare beneficiaries were involved in some sort of cost-cutting strategy, as buying of generic medicines, ask free samples and pharmacy to pharmacy for the cheapest prices around to shopping.

Dr. Nekhlyudov closed:

"If the number of cancer survivors continues to increase and older, the results of our study to improve our understanding of the potential barriers to effective treatment of their non-cancer treatment offer."

Written by Christian Nordqvist
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Article reference:
Nekhlyudov l et al. (2011).
"Cost-related medication nonadherence and cost-saving strategies used by elderly Medicare cancer survivors"
Journal of Cancer Survivorship DOI 10.1007/s11764-011-0188-1