Medicare Drug Benefit
Almost half of Medicare beneficiaries -- including those who have prescription drug coverage -- request no-cost drug samples to offset medication costs, according to a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
The authors found that beneficiaries who did not comply with medication regimens because of the cost of the drugs were most likely to seek prescription drug samples, although having limited or no drug coverage also was found to increase the likelihood of beneficiaries requesting sample medications.
Researchers warn that new policies restricting distribution of drug samples could negatively affect beneficiaries who rely on such medications and suggest developing alternative means of supplying necessary medicine (Tjia et al., Journal of General Internal Medicine, June 2008).