Newswise — People with rheumatoid arthritis whose health insurance requires them to pay a higher share of the cost are less likely to use biotech drugs than those with coverage that is more generous. High family medical bills also appear to reduce the use of these powerful but expensive medications, according to a new study in Health Services Research.
Drugs that alter immune system function directly — also known as biologics or biological response modifiers — are often effective when conventional drugs fail. Their use for cancer, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases has increased sharply in recent years.
“Our study showed that out-of-pocket cost is a concern in the decision to initiate these drugs,” said lead study author Pinar Karaca-Mandic, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. “If higher cost-sharing forces people away from preferred, effective therapy, they could end up with higher complication and medical costs.”
The researchers analyzed health insurance data for 35 large private employers during 2000 to 2005 to determine which of 8,557 patients newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis began to use the three most commonly prescribed biotech drugs — etanercept, adalimumab and infliximab — and which of the 2,066 patients who used these drugs then stayed on them.
They found that patients who paid more for these drugs were less likely to start taking them and were less likely to continue taking them once started, although the latter effect was smaller.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/out-of-pocket-costs-put-arthritis-drugs-out-of-reach-for-someLynnThis is the reason I am not on anything but Plaquenil at the moment and have been on Mtx in the past. My insurance covers only 1/3 the cost of infusions and that other 2/3 is way beyond my means.