TY - JOUR
T1 - Who enrolls in the medicare part D prescription drug benefit program? Medication use among patients with heart failure
AU - Eapen, Zubin J.
AU - Hammill, Bradley G.
AU - Setoguchi, Soko
AU - Schulman, Kevin A.
AU - Peterson, Eric D.
AU - Hernandez, Adrian F.
AU - Curtis, Lesley H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2013 The Authors.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Background--Dispensing data from Medicare Part D standalone prescription drug plans are now available, but characteristics of enrollees with heart failure have not been well described. Methods and Results--We identified 81 874 patients with prevalent heart failure as of January 1, 2010, in a nationally representative 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries. We classified patients according to enrollment in a Medicare Part D plan as of January 1, 2010. Demographic characteristics, comorbid conditions, and prescriptions were compared by enrollment status. A total of 49 252 (60.2%) were enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan as of January 1. Enrollees were more often women, black, and of lower socioeconomic status. Enrollees with heart failure more often filled prescriptions for loop diuretics than angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, β-blockers, or aldosterone antagonists. During the first 4 months of 2010, 5444 (12.3%) reached the coverage gap, and 566 (1.3%) required catastrophic coverage beyond the gap. Conclusions--Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure differ significantly according to enrollment in Part D prescription drug plans and represent a population underrepresented in clinical efficacy trials. Many face the coverage gap, and few select Medicare Part D plans that provide coverage during the gap. Linking Medicare Part D event data with clinical registries could help to determine whether eligible enrollees are undertreated for heart failure.
AB - Background--Dispensing data from Medicare Part D standalone prescription drug plans are now available, but characteristics of enrollees with heart failure have not been well described. Methods and Results--We identified 81 874 patients with prevalent heart failure as of January 1, 2010, in a nationally representative 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries. We classified patients according to enrollment in a Medicare Part D plan as of January 1, 2010. Demographic characteristics, comorbid conditions, and prescriptions were compared by enrollment status. A total of 49 252 (60.2%) were enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan as of January 1. Enrollees were more often women, black, and of lower socioeconomic status. Enrollees with heart failure more often filled prescriptions for loop diuretics than angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, β-blockers, or aldosterone antagonists. During the first 4 months of 2010, 5444 (12.3%) reached the coverage gap, and 566 (1.3%) required catastrophic coverage beyond the gap. Conclusions--Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure differ significantly according to enrollment in Part D prescription drug plans and represent a population underrepresented in clinical efficacy trials. Many face the coverage gap, and few select Medicare Part D plans that provide coverage during the gap. Linking Medicare Part D event data with clinical registries could help to determine whether eligible enrollees are undertreated for heart failure.
KW - Heart failure
KW - Medicare Part D
KW - Outcome assessment (health care)
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U2 - 10.1161/JAHA.113.000242
DO - 10.1161/JAHA.113.000242
M3 - Article
C2 - 24025363
AN - SCOPUS:84891684757
SN - 2047-9980
VL - 2
JO - Journal of the American Heart Association
JF - Journal of the American Heart Association
IS - 5
M1 - e000242
ER -