The issue of whether people in the US over consume medical care has come up from time to time in various threads. There is a brief article in the WSJ today that says:
Many patients stop taking their medicine far sooner than they should, researchers say, and that decsion can be deadly when the drugs treat heart disease or diabetes.
One out of eight heart attack patients quit taking their medications within one month of leaving the hospital. These patients were three times more likely to die during the next year than paitents who stayed on the drugs.
Information is from the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://archinte.ama-assn.org/current.dtl
I wonder how the so called "consumer driven" high deductible health care plans will play into this issue. If you are middle or low income, and have a large deductible to "encourage comparison shopping" I wouldn't be surprised if instead of shopping the patient simply omits the necessary care. Gee, why take a pill that makes me feel bad and costs a lot of money?
Many patients stop taking their medicine far sooner than they should, researchers say, and that decsion can be deadly when the drugs treat heart disease or diabetes.
One out of eight heart attack patients quit taking their medications within one month of leaving the hospital. These patients were three times more likely to die during the next year than paitents who stayed on the drugs.
Information is from the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://archinte.ama-assn.org/current.dtl
I wonder how the so called "consumer driven" high deductible health care plans will play into this issue. If you are middle or low income, and have a large deductible to "encourage comparison shopping" I wouldn't be surprised if instead of shopping the patient simply omits the necessary care. Gee, why take a pill that makes me feel bad and costs a lot of money?