More than 8% of Americans have skipped, delayed or reduced the amount of prescribed medication because of cost concerns, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
In 2021, of the 58% of adults aged 18 to 64 who took prescription drugs at any time in the past 12 months, 9.2 million adults reported not taking medications as prescribed because of cost, using such strategies as skipping doses, taking less than the prescribed dose or delaying filling a prescription, according to the CDC's National Health Interview Survey. The percentage of adults not taking medication as prescribed varied by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as by disability status and health status, health insurance and prescription drug coverage.
"The main takeaway is that 1.3 million people rationed insulin the United States, one of the richest countries in the world," Dr. Adam Gaffney a physician at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the study, told CNN. "This is a lifesaving drug. Rationing insulin can have life-threatening consequences."
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Women (9%) were more likely than men (7%) to not take medication as prescribed.
"I was not surprised by the findings, but they are disheartening," Robin Feldman, a pharmaceutical and intellectual property law expert at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, told NBC News. "Women today still shoulder more of the burden of child care and household management. They may make their own health a lower priority in the face of financial or time pressures."
Related: Uninsured rate on the decline: But who goes without health insurance?
Among other key findings:
- Adults with disabilities (20%) were more likely than adults without disabilities (7%) to not take medication as prescribed to reduce costs.
- Uninsured adults were more likely than adults with other health coverage, Medicaid or private health insurance to not take medication as prescribed because of costs.
- Adults without prescription drug coverage were more likely to not take medication as prescribed to reduce costs compared with adults with public or private prescription drug coverage.
"Cost-saving strategies such as skipping doses, taking reduced doses and delaying filling a prescription may make health conditions worse, result in more serious illness, and require additional expensive treatment, and therefore have implications for health and the costs of care," the report said.
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
