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Year:: 2024
Contributor:: Dunwell, Stanley (Author); Bledsoe, Thomas (Author); Gutman, Deborah (Author)
Subject:: insurance; chronic disease; diabetes mellitus; Financing; Cost of Illness; Cost Savings; GLP-1 Agonists; Health care costs; Health care expenditure; Medical decision-making; Out-of-pocket costs; Price transparency; Unexpected Costs
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26300/p3pd-mp85

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Abstract:: Background: An annual report in 2022 revealed that 9 out of 10 Americans would like to know their financial responsibility upfront, but only 2 out of those 10 Americans will know their financial responsibility at the end of the visit. This begs the question, why are so many patients leaving their clinic visit susceptible to future unexpected costs? This study aims to look at patients who are prescribed Glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists (GLP-1) and the prevalence of unexpected or ""surprise"" medication costs. Methods: We investigated unexpected prescription drug costs for patents taking GLP-1 agonists using a literature review and a cross-sectional survey that consisted of both quantitative and qualitative responses. The survey was administered to patients previously or currently prescribed a GLP-1 agonist from a community-based practice in Providence, RI. The patients surveyed were provided via a convenience sample. Results: 15% (N = 6) of patients reported paying more than expected for their medications although those prices ranged from $5 to $1000. Patients' cost of medication responses ranged from $0 to $1200, and patients’ willingness to pay more than their expected cost of medication out of pocket ranged from $20 to $1000. 7.5% (N = 3) of patients stated that they would be willing to pay anything. 33% (N = 13) of patients always knew their medication cost while 27.5% (N = 11) of patients never or rarely knew their medication cost prior to pick-up. 60% (N = 24) of patients had no prior medication cost research. These data were collected using Qualtrics and analyzed using Google Sheets. Conclusion: Although most patients did not encounter an unexpected cost, there is a minority of patients where this is an issue. The study provides an avenue for future research on what interventions can be implemented to mitigate unexpected cost.

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Dunwell, Stanley, Bledsoe, Thomas, and Gutman, Deborah, "I’m Paying How Much???: A Cross-Sectional Survey Focusing on Medication Cost for Patients Prescribed GLP-1 Agonists" (2024). Gateways to Medicine, Health Care, and Research. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.26300/p3pd-mp85

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Gateways to Medicine, Health Care, and Research

The Gateways Program at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University provides academically promising, motivated students new pathways to careers in the health sciences. This collection houses scholarly works produced by Master of Science in Medical Sciences (ScM) students …
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I’m Paying How Much???: A Cross-Sectional Survey Focusing on Medication Cost for Patients Prescribed GLP-1 Agonists