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Pills &
bills –
What types of
prescriptions are older Minnesotans taking?
How are they paying
for them?
It’s no mystery
that prescription drugs are playing a bigger role in
the health care of older Minnesotans than ever
before. But just how big a role and what are the
impacts, besides better health?
The 2001 Survey of
Older Minnesotans, done for the Minnesota Board on
Aging (MBA) by the Minnesota Center for Survey
Research, dug into that issue. Survey responders,
Minnesotans ages 65 and older, were asked about the
following matters:
• Whether they
take any prescription drugs on a daily basis.
• How many
different types of prescription drugs they take each
day.
• How much they
pay in out-of-pocket expenses for their medications.
• Whether they
have health insurance coverage to help cover their
drug expenses.
• How often they
worry about being able to pay for prescription
drugs.
The findings
Prescription drug
use by older Minnesotans is widespread. The survey
found that 82 percent take at least one prescription
drug daily. On average, Minnesota seniors use 2.9
different prescriptions daily with the breakdown
being nearly identical between men and women. More
than 20 percent of those surveyed re-ported that
they take five or more different kinds of
prescription medications daily.
Obviously, health
status plays a big role in the number of different
types of drugs an older Minnesotan takes daily.
Those who report having "poor" or
"very poor" health used about four times
as many prescription drugs daily as those who rated
their health as "excellent."
Looking at it from
an everyday perspective, survey respondents were
asked about their activities of daily living (ADL),
such as getting dressed and providing personal care
for themselves or needing help to move from a bed or
a chair or in using the toilet. Those who needed
help with one or more of these activities, and also
those saying they experience depression, took twice
the daily number of prescription drugs as those who
weren’t in those categories.
Who’s not using
prescription drugs? Among the 18 percent of older
Minnesotans not using daily medications, the survey
also uncovered some trends. In general, they tended
to:
• Be younger
(between ages 65 and 74).
• Be male.
• Have moderate
income (between $12,000 and $24,000 annually).
• Have no
limitations on daily activities.
• Say that
they’re in good or excellent health.
• Regularly
participate in vigorous activity.
• Not worry about
their health.
• Say that
depression is not a problem for them.
Paying for
prescriptions
With more older
Minnesotans taking more prescription drugs, it
logically follows that their personal budgets are
also going to be affected. The survey asked how much
they pay for prescription drugs and how their
insurance plans help in covering those expenses.
First, the survey
showed that having drug coverage as part of an
insurance plan has an impact on use of prescription
drugs. Seniors with coverage used about four
medicines daily compared to three a day for those
without coverage.
The average
Minnesota senior who takes drugs pays $85 a month
for prescriptions. That average spending works out
to account for eight percent of their income.
But nearly a
quarter (23 percent) of older Minnesotans reported
paying more than $100 a month for their
prescriptions. And among that group, medications
account for an average of 22 percent of their
income.
Seniors who have
limitations on their ADLs face much higher
out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs.
According to the survey, seniors in that group
average $130 a month for medications.
The numbers go up
even more for those who report their health to be
"poor" or "very poor," averaging
$144 in out-of-pocket expenses a month for
prescriptions. The survey also showed that drug
coverage does help protect seniors from
out-of-pocket spending. Even though seniors who lack
drug coverage take fewer drugs on average than
seniors with coverage, they spend 57 percent more
out-of-pocket on prescription drugs each month.
Who has coverage?
More than one-third
(38 percent) of survey respondents said that they
had no prescription drug coverage. Those most likely
to need drug coverage – older Minnesotans
reporting fair or poor health status, one or more
ADL limitations or depression – are no more likely
than their healthier counterparts to have insurance
with drug coverage.
Seniors who are
taking prescription drugs and lack coverage are more
likely than those with coverage to:
• Be older.
• Have lower
incomes.
• Live alone.
• Live in
western or southeastern counties of the state.
Prescription
worries
Among the survey
respondents, 20 percent said that they worry
"some" or "a lot" about being
able to pay for their prescription drugs. The rate
of worry was highest among those reporting problems
with ADLs or depression (42 percent), poor/very poor
health (46 percent) or out-of-pocket monthly
expenses of more than $100 (42 percent).
Although men and
women do not differ significantly in the number of
drugs they take, women tend to worry more about
paying for their prescriptions than men (24 percent
to 15 percent).
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