A new data brief from Altarum includes results from a Consumer Healthcare Experience State Survey (CHESS) survey of more than 1,150 Pennsylvania adults conducted from Oct. 30, 2020 to Dec. 10, 2020, where residents expressed concerned about prescription drug costs and a strong desire to enact solutions.
CHESS is designed to elicit respondents’ unbiased views on a wide range of health system issues, including confidence using the health system, financial burden and views on fixes that might be needed.
- 1 in 2 are worried about affording the cost of prescription drugs.
- 1 in 5 did not fill a prescription, cut pills in half or skipped a dose of medicine in the past 12 months.
- 28% of rural adults did not fill a prescription, cut pills in half or skipped a dose of medicine in the past 12 months compared to 17% of non-rural adults.
- There is strong support among Pennsylvania adults for government action on drug costs regardless of political affiliation.
Many Pennsylvania residents experienced hardship in the prior 12 months due to the cost of prescription drugs. Indeed, cost concerns led 1 in 5 Pennsylvania adults (22%) to not fill a prescription, cut pills in half or skip a dose of medicine.
In addition, over half of all survey respondents (51%) reported being either “somewhat worried” or “very worried” about affording the cost of prescription drugs. Worry varied significantly by income group, with residents in households making less than $50,000 per year being almost twice as worried as those in households making more than $100,000 per year.
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