About 25% of patients with diabetes report asking a physician for a cheaper drug. Skipping doses and pill splitting are tactics used to cut costs.
Diabetes Drugs are Too Expensive. NCHS found 13% of all adults with a diabetes diagnosis didn't take their medications as prescribed in order to cut costs.
Women vs Men vs $$. Women were more likely than men (14.9% vs 11.6%) to modify a drug regimen to reduce costs. Patients aged ≥65 years were less likely to report nonadherence for cost reasons vs younger patients (7.2% vs ~18%).
Insured, Uninsured, CMS. ~33% of patients aged 18 to 64 years who do not have insurance said they couldn't afford to take medications as prescribed. Requests for cheaper medication were most common among uninsured patients – 43% asked their providers for less expensive options.
Dual Eligibility. Among “dual-eligibles” (patients on both Medicare and Medicaid) only 13% requested cheaper drugs vs 23% or more of those with other insurance types. In patients aged ≥65 years with diabetes, those with private insurance (26.1%), Medicare Advantage (25.8%), and Medicare only (22.7%) were more likely than those with Medicare and Medicaid (13.0%) to ask their doctor for a lower-cost medication.
Nearly one-quarter of adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes reported asking a physician for a lower-priced diabetes medication, according to a recent brief from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released early Wednesday. A snapshot of the findings follows below.
