Increasing transplant patients’ access to medications: Medicare and beyond

Comparing renal transplant patients’ adherence to free cyclosporine and free tacrolimus immunosuppressant therapy

“…Non‐adherence to medication therapy has been associated with lack of appropriate instructions from healthcare providers, confusion concerning proper medication use, failure to purchase the medication(s), apathy, and intentional failure to consume the medication (10, 11). With the typical cost of IST for RTPs greater than $10 000 annually (12–14), there is a tremendous financial burden on many RTPs (15). Although Medicare, one of the largest payers of IST, pays for 80% of IST costs for those who qualify, many cannot afford the remaining 20%.…”

Medicare‐approved drug discount cards and renal transplant patients: how much can these cards reduce prescription costs?

“…At that meeting, no one could answer this question as the programs did not start until June 2004. As Medicare renal transplant patients (RTPs) take numerous prescription medications and often require financial assistance to purchase prescriptions (2–4), if MADDCs significantly decreased medication expenses, this would ease the financial burden of RTPs’ post‐transplant care (4–6).…”