Adverse Events Associated With Prescription Drug Cost-Sharing Among Poor and Elderly Persons

Abstract

Rising costs of medications and inequities in access to medication have sparked calls for drug policy reform in the United States and Canada.^1,2 One of the most contentious issues is the introduction of cost-sharing to control drug expenditures. Cost-sharing is intended to deter the use of drug therapies that do little to improve health.^3-6 But cost-effectiveness rests on the assumption that individuals will have the capacity to pay for essential drugs and that they will make rational choices about which drugs to use and abandon. Otherwise, the use of essential drugs will be curtailed to control drug expenditures and short-term savings in the drug budget may be offset by downstream costs in the treatment of potentially preventable illnesses.^7-22