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.
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Health and Retirement Funds, Washington, DC 20008.
F D
FD
Gianfrancesco
A P
AP
Baines
D
D
Richards
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