Rising Rx Drug Costs Continue to Create Tough Choices for Seniors

A survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that about 5 percent of adults 65 and up are not taking their medication as prescribed due to inflated drug costs, according to U.S. News & World Report . Moreover, almost one in five seniors has asked a doctor to switch them to a more affordable medication. "It could be they skipped medication they couldn't afford, they took less medication than prescribed, or they delayed filling a prescription," said the CDC's Robin Cohen. The researchers learned that 86 percent of seniors 65 and older had been prescribed medication within the past 12 months, and about one in every 20 could not afford to take their drug as prescribed. Younger seniors 65 to 74 were found to be more likely to struggle with drug costs than older people, and twice as likely not to take their medication as prescribed than those 75 or older. The CDC further discovered that the type of health insurance seniors carried had a major impact on their ability to afford their medications. Approximately 8 percent of individuals covered by Medicare alone said they did not take medication as prescribed to save money, versus 5 percent of people with either Medicare Advantage or Medicare and Medicaid and 3 percent of those enrolled in private insurance plans.