Abstract
Prescription drug cost-sharing is a barrier to medication adherence, particularly for low-income and minority populations. In this systematic review, we examined the impact of prescription drug cost-sharing and policies to reduce cost-sharing on racial/ethnic and income disparities in medication utilization. We screened 2,145 titles and abstracts and identified 19 peer-reviewed papers that examined the interaction between cost-sharing and racial/ethnic and income disparities in medication adherence or utilization. We found weak but inconsistent evidence that lower cost-sharing is associated with reduced disparities in adherence and utilization, but studies consistently found that significant disparities remained even after adjusting for differences in cost-sharing across individuals. Study designs varied in their ability to measure the causal effect of policy or cost-sharing changes on disparities, and a wide range of policies were examined across studies. Further research is needed to identify the types of policies that are best suited to reduce disparities in medication adherence.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 87-95 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Medical Care Research and Review |
Volume | 81 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2024 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- cost sharing
- disparities
- health insurance
- medication adherence
- prescription drugs
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Policy