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Approximately 10% of Medicare beneficiaries do not comply with their prescribed medicationregimen because they simply cannot afford it, researchers fromHarvard Medical School reported in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship . They added that elderly Medicare patients, whether or not theyare being treated for cancer , commonly skip taking a pill so that they can last longer, orforgo filling a prescription completely because it is just tooexpensive. The authors believe that their findings suggest that seniors withcancer or those who survived it do not face greater medical coststhan other patients. The rise in medication costs has occurred in parallel with an agingpopulation, leading to greater financial burdens for the patient.Cancer costs have risen considerably. Patients being treated forcancer face considerable out-of-pocket expenses while they arebeing diagnosed, treated and receiving follow-up care.Comorbidities are common among cancer survivors, who may be takingmedication for diabetes , hyperlipidemia, hypertension or osteoporosis . The researchers set out to understand what medication issues cancerpatients have to face. They gathered data from the 2005 MedicareCurrent Beneficiary Survey and Medicare claims from 2005. They looked at reasons why patients may not stick to theirprescribed drug regimen, whether they spent less on basic needs, oreven did without to cover their out-of-pocket medical expenses.They analyzed both cancer survivors and non-cancer sufferers. Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov and colleagues found that the rate ofcost-related non-adherence among those without cancer was 11%,compared to 10% for cancer survivors - not a statisticallysignificant difference. 6% of cancer survivors said they spend less on food, heating andother basic needs in order to be able to pay for their medication,compared to 9% of individuals without cancer. More than half of allMedicare beneficiaries were involved in some kind of cost-savingstrategy, such as buying generic drugs, asking for free samples andshopping around from pharmacy-to-pharmacy for the cheapest prices. Dr. Nekhlyudov concluded: "As the number of cancer survivors continues to increase and getolder, the findings of our study enhance our understanding of thepotential barriers to effective treatment of their non-cancerco-morbidities." Written by Christian Nordqvist Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Heavy Duty Racking System , Industrial Pallet Racking for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Medium Duty Racks.
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