Patients delay, skip, and negotiate to keep Rx costs down

Adults under age 65 were twice as likely than senior citizens to avoid filling their prescriptions or skipping the doctor's recommended dose in order to save money, according to a national survey released today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey found the most popular cost-cutting strategy — employed by one out of every five patients at any age — was to ask doctors to prescribe a cheaper drug, according to responses from 33,000 people who participated in the CDC's National Health Interview Survey in 2011. Out-of-pocket drug costs topped $45 billion that year, according to the CDC.