Perspective               

Prescription Drug Survey Finds Seniors Skipping Medications

A recent eight state survey by The Kaiser Family Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, and Tufts-New England Medical Center found that in 2001, the high cost of prescription drugs forced 22 percent of older adults to skip doses of their medications. The number is higher for those seniors who do not have any prescription drug coverage-35 percent skipped doses or did not have prescriptions filled. Even patients with severe and chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes often go without medications because of costs, said the report.

In seven out of the eight states surveyed, less than 50 percent of all seniors living below the poverty level received prescription drug coverage from Medicaid. The majority of low-income seniors said they did not enroll in assistance programs because they did not think they qualified or they never thought of applying.

Of the seniors surveyed who reside in states with relatively comprehensive prescription drug assistance programs, approximately 20 percent have no drug coverage.

The survey also found that nearly a quarter of seniors spent $100 or more per month on prescription drug costs alone.

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