Effects of changes in patient cost sharing and drug sample policies on prescription drug costs and utilization in a safety-net-provider setting

An observational study of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis prophylaxis in a national cohort of male veterans with rheumatoid arthritis

“…Subjects above the means test, and therefore generally subject to higher or more frequent medication copayments, were approximately 30% less likely to be dispensed these preventive medications. The influence of copayments upon medication prescribing patterns has been well documented and is consistent with our observations [51,52]. The means test status of subjects also predicts early GIO prophylaxis, with subjects above the means test again less likely to be dispensed these therapies (OR, 0.71).…”

Do policy changes in the pharmaceutical reimbursement schedule affect drug expenditures?

“…However, the use of antidepressants among women decreased after the increased co-payment in 1997 [11]. Some studies that investigated increased cost-sharing reported a reduction in the pace of increase of pharmaceutical expenditures [5,6,8,15] whereas other report no effects on total drug cost [12,16,17]. These studies were performed in different countries where co-payment systems for patients differ which make it difficult to compare the results as the direction and magnitude of effects will depend on the generosity of the system.…”

“…Increasing the patient's share of the cost is commonly used to cut the increase in pharmaceutical expenditure [1,[5][6][7][8][9]. It can be done in several ways such as introducing or increasing co-payment and through restriction of volumes subsidised.…”

“…Theoretically, increasing the patient's share should reduce demand by shifting the cost burden to the patient [1,10]. Several studies have investigated effects of increased co-payments [5,6,8,9,[11][12][13][14][15][16]. Some report associations between increased co-payment for pharmaceuticals and decreased utilization [13] and costs as well as reduced rate of increase of costs and reduced cost per prescription [5,6,8,15].…”

Investigating the Economic Impacts of New Public Pharmaceutical Policies in Greece: Focusing on Price Reductions and Cost-Sharing Rates

“…According to other studies, cosharing mechanisms can be effective as a cost-containment measure because these increase efficiency by controlling excess demand [9]. The advantage of the proportional system is that the costs are directly related to the duration of treatment and that individuals become price sensitive.…”