After enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), people in Medicare Part D filled more prescriptions because their costs were lower, according to a new study published in JAMA. Put differently, out-of-pocket costs keep people from filling their prescriptions, as you might expect.
The IRA lowered out-of-pocket drug costs, and medication adherence by older people with Medicare increased substantially. During the same period, cost-related medication non-adherence for people with commercial insurance rose; they did not see their medication costs reduced.
Researchers saw better medication adherence among people who no longer had a five percent drug copay under Medicare Part D and people who had enrolled in the low-income subsidy program. The increase in medication adherence was particularly significant for people with two or more chronic conditions.
Other researchers have observed greater cost-related medication adherence for people requiring insulin when their out-of-pocket costs dropped to $35 a month, as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act.
This all said, in this new study, the researchers still found substantially the same health care-related financial strain among people who benefited from lower drug costs. There were no spillover benefits with regard to their health care costs.
