Survey Shows Patients Are Skipping Care Due to Costs

A new survey from the Commonwealth Fund comparing patients in the United States to those in seven other countries finds more than half of chronically ill patients did not get recommended care, fill prescriptions, or see a doctor when sick because of costs. The survey underscores the importance for patients in exploring lower cost options, including generics, mail-service pharmacies, and electronic prescribing (e-prescribing), the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) said today.

“Consumers should explore available prescription drug cost-saving options, including generics and mail-service pharmacies,” said PCMA President and CEO Mark Merritt. “Patients can save even more if they find a doctor who uses e-prescribing, which shows when more affordable options are available.”

PCMA believes policymakers should explore other cost-savings options, including:

• Accelerating adoption of waste-cutting health information technologies such as e-prescribing that alert patients and doctors alike when affordable choices are available;
• Promoting comparative effectiveness programs which will improve clinical decision-making, enhance quality and discourage wasteful spending;
• Allowing greater use of mail service pharmacies in federal programs;
• Allowing generic competition for biologics and greater formulary competition in Part D; and
• Having CBO, OMB and others re-examine provisions in Medicare Part D that increase costs but don’t help beneficiaries.

The Commonwealth Fund surveyed 7,500 chronically ill patients in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Key findings included:

• More than half (54%) of chronically ill patients in the United States did not get recommended care, fill prescriptions, or see a doctor when sick because of costs, compared to 7 to 36 percent in other countries.
• One-third of patients in the United States—more than in any other country—reported either being given the wrong medication or dosage, experiencing a medical error, receiving incorrect test results, or facing delays in hearing about abnormal test results.
• Nearly half (46%) of U.S. patients reported their time had been wasted because of poorly organized care or they had received care of little or no value during the past two years.