Impact of a household-level deductible on prescription drug use among lower-income adults: a quasi-experimental study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Several Canadian public drug plans have income-based deductibles, but we have limited data on their impact, particularly for vulnerable populations. Therefore, we studied the impact of deductibles in British Columbia's Fair PharmaCare program on drug use among lower-income adults.

Methods

We used a quasi-experimental regression discontinuity design to study the impact of BC rules that impose no deductible before receiving public coverage on households with incomes less than $15 000, a deductible of 2% of household income on those with incomes between $15 000 and $30 000, and a deductible of 3% of household income on those with incomes above $30 000. We studied the impact of these thresholds on public and total drug expenditures between 2003 and 2015 using 24 milli

SUBMITTER: Law MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6440883 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan-Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature