Those prescription drugs can be so gosh-darn expensive, but if you don’t buy them, you’ll just wind up paying more in medical bills down the road.
A new study in Health Affairs demonstrates that people with four common chronic illnesses saved themselves – and the healthcare system – significant dollars by taking being medication adherent.
The CVS Caremark-funded report, is based on an analysis of 135,000 patients with congestive heart failure, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. The study found that people who took their meds made fewer visits to the emergency room and spent fewer days in the hospital. Specifically:
- Patients with congestive heart failure who took all their prescribed drugs saved $7,832 per year compared with those who didn’t.
- Patients with diabetes saved $3,756 by taking all of their meds.
- Patients with high blood pressure saved $3,908 when they filled all their prescriptions.
- Patients with high cholesterol saved $1,258 when they got the full benefit of pharmaceuticals.
A the study concludes:
“Our findings indicate that programs to improve medication adherence are worth consideration by insurers, government payers, and patients, as long as intervention costs do not exceed the estimated health care cost savings.”
Adding new meaning to the words "penny wise, pound foolish."
Words to the wise.
