Cost-Sharing Rates Increase During Deep Recession: Preliminary Data From Greece.

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Pharmaceutical Policy
• Public Health

Background:

• Greek pharmaceutical expenditure reduction measures led to price cuts and altered patient cost-sharing for prescriptions.
• This study investigates the impact of these changes on patient out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses from 2011 to 2014.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the increase in patients' out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs in Greece.
• To analyze the trends in patient cost-sharing rates and average charges per prescription.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of financial data from 39,883 prescriptions.
• Data collected from three randomly selected pharmacies in Lamia, central Greece.

Main Results:

• Average patient contribution per prescription rose from 11.28% in 2011 to 29.08% in 2014.
• Mean patient charge per prescription increased from €6.58 in 2011 to €10.87 in 2014.
• The introduction of an internal reference price (IRP) system significantly increased patient charges.

Conclusions:

• Rising patient cost-sharing for prescription drugs can decrease public pharmaceutical expenditure.
• Increased OOP expenses may impact patient adherence, particularly for chronic disease patients and vulnerable populations.
• Refining cost-sharing policies to consider chronic patients, the poor, and the elderly is recommended.