How the Increasing Cost of Medications Affects the Elderly

Hello Everyone,
I am attaching you the paper that i already have and I need you to paraphrase the whole paper so it will be plagiarism free paper. Everything is they're in the paper and it fulfills all the requirements that the professor is looking for. Please paraphrase it, and make sure it does not have a lot of plagiarism when I submit it to Turnitin.com since this paper is going there. There is the references in the last page as well so you can have access to the articles that you will need.

HCM 340

Milestone 1

 Option Three: A gap in efficiency related to rising cost of pharmaceuticals for the aging population

Efficiency is defined as allocative or productive. The allocative aspect refers attainment of the most valued mix of health care services meanwhile the productive aspect pertains to the production of a given level of healthcare services at a minimum cost. Efficiency  can be used to evaluate any aspect of health care. The  area that we will be focusing on is the elderly or aging population and the high cost of medications. The aging population is the population that I believe tend to use the healthcare system the most. They are in need of a lot of management and preventive care.

In many elderly individuals who are underinsured or do not have insurance at all, the medication cost can become very expensive. Many of these individuals have been diagnosed with illness/ chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension( high blood pressure), high cholesterol and heart disease. This results in many visits to their Primary Care Physician for management and preventive care. Their blood levels are checks and vitals evaluated to ensure that their medications are working accurately. They often leave their medical facilities with a large amount of prescriptions. The underinsured ends up paying a discounted price/co-pay for their medication however individuals without insurance can sometimes face paying hundreds of dollars every month for their medication. For example, for someone who is diagnosed with high cholesterol and is in need of Lipitor can end up paying $450.00 or $25.00 (if the generic Atorvastatin if offered) monthly. Many times these individuals are diagnosed with multiple illnesses and are in need of multiple medications. If they are  in need to be adjusted in the middle of the month, then there is more cost added on.

This issue is not new to the aging population as at all. This is  a issue that has been going on for many years. According to the article on AARP, the chart display a rise in brand cost from 20016 to 2015. It displays an increase of $4019. That is an extreme amount of cost difference even though this measured annually. Even in the year 2018, the cost is continuing to rise. The CNN articles states that “The prices of the 20 most commonly prescribed brand-name drugs for seniors have risen nearly 10 times more than the annual rate of inflation over the past five years, according to a congressional report released Monday.”

Many of individuals are affected the most are the individuals who are in the lower wealth bracket, individuals who are minorities, mentally ill  and individuals who are disabled. Individuals who are in the lower wealth bracket often do not have insurance or more than likely underinsured.  Minorities are more prone to chronic illness such as high blood pressures and high cholesterol. Individuals with mental illnesses need their medications to be able to function at their full ability. Individuals who are disabled depend on their medication especially in older age to be able get through their day to day functions.

With the known knowledge of how the cost of medications are affecting individuals, providers are avoiding many brand name medications and opting for the generic medication instead. This makes it harder for physicians to made healthcare providers to makes decisions when it comes to prescribing medications for their  patients when they are aware of their insurance situation. This also results in the insurance plans for elderly to change. The medication cost coverage is higher than the younger population. The CNN articles states “Although 48 million fewer prescriptions were written for the top 20 most commonly prescribed brand-name drugs from 2012 to 2017, the report found that total sales revenue from these prescriptions increased by almost $8.5 billion during that period.” This shows that they will just continue to raise the prices of medications if fewer are prescriptions. 

Potential implications that can occur are many individuals ended up in the hospital needing long term care because their illnesses/chronic diseases are not manage/ controlled correctly. Another implication that is surgery and many costly procedures. For instance, someone that does not manage their high cholesterol can end up with  plague forming in their arteries  causing a stroke or heart attack. They will then in turn need to be hospitalized and possibly have to go to the cath lab. The most dangerous implication that can occur is death. Each chronic illness  takes a toll on the body and effects each individual differently.

“1.” Jonas' Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System, by Raymond L. Goldsteen et al., Springer Publishing Company, 2017, pp. 18–18.

Sagon, C. (n.d.). Rx Drug Costs for Older Adults Still Soaring. Retrieved from https://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-2016/drug-costs-for-older-adults-still-soaring-cs.html

Prices and Coupons for Lipitor. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.goodrx.com/lipitor?drug-name=lipitor&form=tablet&dosage=40mg&quantity=30&days_supply=&label_override=atorvastatin

Drash, W. (2018, March 26). Medicare drug prices soar at 10 times rate of inflation, report says. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/health/report-medicare-drug-prices-soaring/index.html