A Health Podyssey: Stacie Dusetzina Shares Why Medicare Beneficiaries May Not Fill Specialty Drug Prescriptions

Health Affairs This Week is on a break this week. Today, we are
publishing an episode from A Health Podyssey, where Health
Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil brings you in-depth
conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping
the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry.
Health Affairs This Week will return next week.


Subscribe to A Health Podyssey: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify |
Stitcher | Google Podcasts


The United States is facing a drug affordability crisis. 





Even as we celebrate scientific discovery, the health benefits of
drugs are limited due to barriers of affordability, often even
for people with health insurance. The RAND Corporation reports
that on average drug prices in the United States are more than
two and a half times those in 32 other nations studied. The
disparities are even wider when we focus just on brand name
drugs.





Drug pricing is the subject of seemingly perennial debates. One
side focuses on access barriers due to high prices while the
other side argues that lower prices threaten future
innovation. 





Stacie Dusetzina from Vanderbilt University Medical Center joins
A Health Podyssey to talk about the complex world of drug
pricing.





She and colleagues published a paper in the April 2022 issue of
Health Affairs examining the degree to which people with Medicare
prescription drug benefits use the drugs that are prescribed to
them.





In the paper, the authors found non-initiation rates among some
beneficiaries of greater than 50 percent for certain treatments.


If you enjoy this interview, order the April 2022 Health Affairs
issue to get research on access to care, hospitals and more.