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Americans having a harder time affording drugs

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 6, 2005

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The number of Americans going without prescription medications is rising, says a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The trend hits patients with chronic diseases especially hard. More than 14 million of them could not afford all their prescriptions in 2003.

"Adults with chronic conditions were twice as likely as other adults to have problems affording prescription drugs," said the center's president, Paul Ginsburg, PhD.

In 2003, 18.3% of Americans with a chronic condition had difficulty accessing medications, compared with 16.5% in 2001. Among all adults, 12.8% had trouble filling prescriptions in 2003 versus 12% in 2001. The trend is likely due to an increase in the number of prescriptions and a rise in cost sharing, the authors concluded.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/06/06/gvbf0606.htm.

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