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Not so sweet: insulin affordability over time
Not so sweet: insulin affordability over time
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Issue brief (Commonwealth Fund)
- Author(s):
- Glied, Sherry, author
Zhu, Benjamin, author - Contributor(s):
- Commonwealth Fund, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [New York, N.Y.] : The Commonwealth Fund, September 2020
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Costs and Cost Analysis -- trends
Financing, Personal
Insulin -- economics
Insurance Coverage
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- ISSUE. There have been multiple reports of Americans who cannot afford insulin products. GOAL. To describe insulin use patterns, out-of-pocket costs, and financial burdens for American adults under age 65 with diabetes over time. METHODS. Analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and National Health Interview Survey. KEY FINDINGS. Uninsured Americans with diabetes are much more likely to be using less costly (and less effective) formulations of insulin compared to peers with private insurance or Medicaid. Uninsured people are also much more likely to pay full list price for insulin (68%) than the privately insured (9%) or Medicaid beneficiaries (3%). The uninsured spend more out of pocket on all prescriptions ($2,456) than the privately insured ($1,274) and are more likely to report being unable to afford prescription medicines (38% versus 10%). However, among the privately insured, insulin accounts for a significant portion of total out-of-pocket expenses. CONCLUSIONS. Among those under age 65, increasing access to insurance coverage and the generosity of that coverage are the most important steps for increasing access to insulin. In particular, continued expansion of Medicaid and limiting overall out-of-pocket spending for those with private insurance will protect people with diabetes from high costs.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (13 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101772061 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101772061