Having insurance coverage alone doesn’t guarantee that people can afford or would be willing to pay continuously for chronic disease medications like Ozempic, a new, large-scale study finds.
Looking at insured patients with type 2 diabetes and heart failure, researchers found that people with higher prescription copayments were less likely to consistently take glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) — two classes of drugs that yield additional, long-term benefits compared with older treatments but are also costlier.
For example, people with high copayments, defined as over $50, were about 50% less likely to adhere to GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Trulicity than those with low copayments, defined as less than $10, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open Thursday.
About the Author Reprints
Exciting news! STAT has moved its comment section to our subscriber-only app, STAT+ Connect. Subscribe to STAT+ today to join the conversation or join us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Threads. Let's stay connected!
To submit a correction request, please visit our Contact Us page.