![]() ![]() 5 The Commonwealth Fund for advancing health equity has identified that profound racial and ethnic inequities in health and health care exist across and within states. 4 Black, indigenous, and people of color are less likely to have health insurance, are more likely to face cost-related barriers to getting care, and are more likely to incur medical debt. 4 The Healthy People 2023 objectives include reducing the proportion of people who cannot get prescription medicines when they need them evidence shows that addressing financial barriers and increasing insurance coverage is the most effective approach for reducing delays and difficulty in affording prescription medicines. 2Ī patient's income, employment, and insurance status are examples of social determinants of health that have a major impact on a patient's health, well-being, and quality of life. 3 This means patients with chronic conditions who cannot afford brand name GDMTs may opt to be treated with older, inferior drug therapies. 2 A 2021 West Health-Gallup poll revealed that 18 million Americans cannot afford their drugs, in particular, patients with three or more chronic conditions, eight or more drugs, and households earning less than $24 000/year. While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has improved insurance access, drug cost can still leave many GDMTs unobtainable due to high deductibles and/or copays. Most prescription insurance companies cover brand name drugs at higher tiers, and therefore, require a higher copay and out-of-pocket expense to the patient. These products have significant retail costs, which many patients are unable to afford with or without prescription insurance. 1 Several clinical practice guidelines recommend drug classes that only include agents available as brand name products. Drug cost is a barrier to patients obtaining guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT). ![]()
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