Minority Seniors Affected by Lack of Prescription Drug Benefits

by Rose Broyles

With rising prescription drug costs, Americans continue to scramble and find ways to pay for medication. With the Obama Administration currently tackling  monster healthcare reform, seniors can only wait around to see how this all turns out. Meanwhile, they will either have to continue paying what they can, order from other countries like Canada for cheaper drugs, or forego some medications altogether; this is something that many, including healthcare experts, are concerned about. So how does this affect minority seniors?

According to a study from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center,  African American and Hispanic senior citizens who lack prescription drug benefits are three times more likely than white seniors to cut back on taking their medications. What were their findings? It looks like there wasn’t anything conclusive, but it seems that there is more than just the issue of money.

“Forgoing medications for lack of coverage is a very real phenomenon. This study calls attention to the magnitude of this problem, particularly among certain disadvantaged communities,” said Michael Steinman, MD, a fellow in the VA National Quality Scholars Program at SFVAMC and University of California, San Francisco.

Ethnic Differences or Income Level?

The researchers interviewed about 5000 people over the age of 70 for their study about:  income, assets, insurance coverage, monthly prescription drug costs, and their ethnicity. 80% of the seniors without coverage said they cut back on their medication. The contributing factors for the medication cutbacks included: low income, high out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, and African-American or Hispanic ethnicity. 21% of African Americans and Hispanics had restricted their medications.

“Our data suggests that among minority seniors with low income and high drug costs, as many as 43 percent of people without coverage could be restricting their medication”

Even with the fluctuation of medications and income levels, African Americans and Hispanics were still likely to cut back. Steinman states that attitudes about how they spread their resources may be different across ethnic lines.

“If you have a limited amount of money each month, and you have to pay for medicine, food, telephone service, and rent from that, then in some cases not taking your medications is an understandable choice”

Final Analysis

I found this to be an interesting study.  I remember as a Sociology minor, we would analyze group dynamics and cultural shifts and attitudes about certain issues. This probably would have been one of our topics. Is there really that big of a  difference between minorities and caucasians when it comes to taking prescription drugs? I’m not so sold on that. I think that finances have a huge impact on whether or not the senior will take certain drugs or not. I think that above all else, money or lack thereof, is the contributing factor. While I agree to some extent, that one’s culture (more so than ethnic background) may affect their decisions, if a senior is assimilated to the way of life in this country, or their state, even city for that matter, I don’t think it makes all that much difference. It just depends on how proactive they, their family and their doctor are with regards to their health.

My dad for instance loves his doctor. His doctor is really good. He’s one of a few doctors who actually take a proactive approach to care. He doesn’t just give Dad a prescription without explaining to us its risks and if he doesn’t feel that the drug will help, he will not prescribe it. There has to be a compelling reason behind why he’ll give Dad a drug. So, obviously Dad listens to what his doctor suggests. Medications cost alot, but if Dad knows that what he is taking is good for him, he’s going to take it. Dad’s not white, we’re not white. We’re not rich either. So, does the minority argument hold? No, neither is the income level in our case.
Truth of the matter is, seniors who tend to be more educated and informed of their conditions will take their medicines. They’ll find ways to save money if their resources are limited. So I’d say that this one is still up in the air!

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Tags: Prescription drug, prescription drug benefits, prescription drug cost, prescription drugs and seniors, prescription drugs minorities

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 7:49 pm and is filed under Prescription Drugs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.