CHICAGO, Jul 13, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Twenty-one percent of AARP members
surveyed in Illinois report not filling or delaying filling prescriptions due to
cost, a survey indicated.
Nearly one in five said they had to cut back on food and utilities to afford
needed medications, the AARP survey of Illinois residents 50 and over indicated.
The survey found 63 percent are concerned about affordability of their
prescription drugs. Eighteen percent reported they took less than the prescribed
amount to make the medicine last longer.
The survey found women and Hispanics say they tend to be harder hit than the
general 50-plus population by high drug costs.
In the past year, prices for brand-name prescription drugs increased an average
of 8.7 percent, while generic drug prices decreased by nearly 11 percent, Merri
Dee, president for AARP in Illinois, said.
Prices of specialty prescription drugs, used to treat conditions that tend to
affect older populations such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, increased by
9.3 percent.
The results are based on responses from 753 AARP members in Illinois who
completed mail surveys between Oct. 31 and Dec.1, 2008. No margin of error was
provided.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International