Can you afford to fill your prescriptions?
A national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that the proportion of children and working-age Americans who went without a prescription drug because of cost concerns jumped to one in seven in 2007, up from one in 10 in 2003. HSC attributed the increase to rising prescription drug costs and less generous drug coverage.
According to the study, the most vulnerable people—those with low incomes, chronic conditions and the uninsured—continue to face the greatest unmet prescription drug needs. Uninsured, working-age Americans saw the biggest jump in unmet prescription drug needs between 2003 and 2007, with the proportion rising from 26 percent to almost 35 percent.
At the same time, a growing proportion (10.7%) of working-age Americans with employer-sponsored insurance reported going without prescription medications in 2007, up from with 8.7 percent in 2003, the study found.
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