In the News--Free medications

I cannot believe it:  give people free medications and they won’t take them.  Hmmm. 

We often hear that medications cost too much.  We hear that people have to make a choice:  their medicines or ___ (fill in the blanks).  So researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital enrolled 5855 people (Aetna insured people who had a drug plan) who had suffered a heart attack.  These patients were prescribed well-established drugs (such as cholesterol-lowering statins, and medications which help the heart beat more efficiently).  Half the participants paid their co-pay (approximately $50/month) and the other half of participants received their medicines free.  

A year later, here are the results:  participants in the co-pay group filled their prescriptions 36-49% of the time, depending on the drug.  The no-copay participants filled their prescriptions only 4-6% more often.  That is not the overwhelming difference you might expect.  The researchers did not examine why more people did not take their medicines.   

What can I say?  I’m speechless. More information can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45289449