A comparison between the effects of drug costs and share of family income on drug costs in determining drug price

Abstract

High health care and medication expenditures pose a financial burden on Americans seeking care. It is imperative to determine the role of affordability in influencing access to health care and medications.To investigate the association between financial burden and health care access by comparing the effects of absolute and relative financial burdens, measured by total health care/medication expenditure (Expenditure) and health care/medication expenditure as a share of annual family income (Expenditure Share), respectively.Delay in receiving health care services and delay in obtaining prescription medications.A cross-sectional analysis of the 2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey using multivariate logistic regressions with Expenditure and Expenditure Share variables standardized to facilitate comparison.While both absolute and relative financial burdens were found to be positively associated with the outcomes, the relative measure had a significantly higher association that was about twice as much as the absolute one. For the outcome of delay in getting health care, the standardized odds ratios (OR) for health care expenditure and health care expenditure as a share of family income were 1.13 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09–1.18) and 1.25 (95% CI = 1.20–1.32), respectively. For the outcome of delay in getting medications, the standardized OR for medication expenditure and medication expenditure as a share of family income were 1.11 (95% CI = 1.08–1.15) and 1.23 (95% CI = 1.18–1.29), respectively.The study illustrated the importance of including income in policy considerations intended to balance value, access, and affordability. Specifically, income should be included in measures assessing the value of medications.

Factors affecting Cost-Related Medication Non-Adherence among US population with Cardiovascular Risk Factors

“…Studies found that families with children and in particular, low-income families are unable to bear the burden of insurance and out-of-pocket healthcare costs, which prove detrimental to their health needs. 30,31 In our assessment, although ethnicity was not a notable contributing factor toward medication adherence, there were significant regional differences observed across the country. Individuals from the South with more than one CVD risk factor were 1.59 times more likely than those from the Northeast to experience CRMN.…”

“…Studies found that families with children and in particular, low-income families are unable to bear the burden of insurance and out-of-pocket healthcare costs, which prove detrimental to their health needs. 30, 31…”

Knowledge and perceptions of patients towards generic and local medications: The lebanese version

“…The increase in healthcare costs has garnered public attention for over a decade (Dong et al 2021). Most of healthcare costs are expended on medicines.…”