Posted by Michael Wonder on 04 Feb 2020
Copayment incentive increased medication use and reduced spending among indigenous Australians after 2010
3 February 2020 - Australian health policy has prioritised efforts to close the ten-year life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, a disparity largely driven by cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Because out-of-pocket spending poses a barrier to accessing medications for chronic conditions, in 2010 the Australian government reduced or eliminated medication copayments for indigenous people with chronic disease or risk factors for chronic disease.
In this quasi-experimental study we found that the copayment reductions were associated with a 39 percent relative increase in the use of medications and a 61% reduction in out-of-pocket spending.
