Medicare Part D beneficiaries who have low incomes and receive government subsidies were nearly twice as likely to fill a prescription for a high-priced medicine for cancer or other illnesses compared with Americans who don’t receive such support, according to a new study.
The analysis found that many beneficiaries who do not receive subsidies — which can cap or lower out-of-pocket costs — did not fill their prescriptions. For instance, 30% of prescriptions for cancer drugs were not filled and more than 50% of prescriptions written for medicines used to treat high cholesterol or immune disorders also went unfilled.
The findings, which were published this week in Health Affairs, underscore the challenges facing Part D beneficiaries who require increasingly expensive specialty medicines for hard-to-treat maladies. Under the standard Part D benefit, beneficiaries must pay a percentage of a medication’s list price with every prescription, but there is no out-of-pocket spending limit.
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