Table 5.
Use of Medical Care and Prescriptions Overall, Among Part D Enrollees, and Among Those Persistently Without Prescription Coverage
| Reported System Use (2006) | Total (n = 9573) | Acquired Part D (Previous No Coverage) (n = 1619) | No Rx Coverage 2003–2006 (N = 476) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (n = 476) | Low Income (<200% FPL) (n = 276) | Higher Income (>200% FPL) (n = 200) | |||||
| No conditionsa (n = 106) | 1+ conditionsa (n = 170) | No conditionsa (n = 86) | 1+ conditionsa (n = 114) | ||||
| Engagement with System | |||||||
| Has regular personal doctor | 94.3 | 95.7* | 81.0*** | 55.3*** | 86.9*** | 67.8*** | 95.9 |
| Number of different docs | |||||||
| None | 6.1 | 7.0 | 19.5*** | 45.8*** | 10.0* | 17.9*** | 18.3*** |
| 1 | 18.9 | 20.3 | 24.8** | 20.2 | 24.8 | 31.4** | 23.0 |
| 2–3 | 50.2 | 51.2 | 44.1* | 25.7*** | 49.7 | 45.6 | 46.4 |
| 4+ | 24.7 | 21.5** | 11.6*** | 8.3** | 15.5** | 5.1*** | 12.3** |
| Number of chronic conditions (Avg) | 2.3 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Total Rx medicines (Avg) | 4.6 | 4.2*** | 2.5*** | 0.4*** | 3.9** | 0.5*** | 3.1*** |
| None (%) | 9.7 | 9.6 | 29.8*** | 81.6*** | 1.2*** | 84.1*** | 4.1 |
| Out-of-pocket spending > $100/month | 29.8 | 29.2 | 32.0 | 3.4** | 38.0* | 12.8 | 32.4 |
| Cost-related non-use of system | |||||||
| Went w/o care from a doctor due to cost | 9.1 | 10.7* | 17.8*** | 27.4*** | 22.1*** | 7.7 | 12.7 |
| Avoided hospital due to cost | 4.8 | 5.0 | 6.8 | 8.7 | 9.9** | 2.2 | 4.2 |
| Cost-related non-adherence | 19.4 | 23.2*** | 24.4* | 21.1 | 31.8*** | 17.2 | 15.6 |
| Knowledge and attitudes about low-income subsidy | |||||||
| Applied for LIS | 4.5 | 9.1*** | 6.7* | 0.8 | 15.5*** | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| Did not apply because | |||||||
| • Did not know about it | 49.4 | 49.2 | 53.6 | 58.1 | 58.7* | 53.9* | 42.5 |
| • Do not need help with Rx | 20.6 | 11.3*** | 13.6*** | 16.5 | 1.7*** | 19.4 | 26.2 |
| • Did not know how | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 2.9*** | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| • Too much trouble | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.2*** | 0.0 | 2.4** | 0.4 | 4.5 |
| • Thought would not qualify | 16.4 | 26.0*** | 16.5 | 16.1 | 12.7 | 21.7* | 19.1** |
| • Other reasonb | 7.8 | 3.1*** | 6.1 | 8.0 | 6.1 | 4.0 | 6.2 |
*p ≤ 0.05 **p ≤ 0.01 ***p ≤ 0.001
Significance testing compares each column to total population
aSubgroups are defined using respondents’ 2006 status of number of chronic conditions and poverty level.
bRespondents either chose the “Other” option for not applying (n = 452) or did not specify a reason for not applying (n = 264).