Utilization effects of prescription drug benefits in an aging population.
In this article, the effects of prescription drug coverage on use are analyzed for beneficiaries of a large retiree health benefit fund in a quasi-experiment comparing new and established enrollees. Newer enrollees show an 18-percentage point greater increase in prescription drug expenditures per capita than established enrollees during the 3-year period following enrollment. This differential is interpreted as the insurance effect of prescription coverage. The impact was greater among high-cost drugs than among low-cost drugs, and also greater among low users of prescription drugs than among high users. No clear patterns were discerned across therapeutic categories.
Gianfrancesco
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FD
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Health and Retirement Funds, Washington, DC 20008.
Baines
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AP
Richards
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D
D000368:Aged; D017047:Cost Sharing; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007750:Labor Unions; D012179:Retirement / Q000191:economics