1. Americans Cutting Back on
Drugs and Doctor Visits
ARTICLE PUBLISHED APRIL, 4, 2012
Allison Szewczyk

2. ••Patients are struggling
to pay for health care
which is a sign of why
they are cutting back on
prescription drugs and
doctor visits.
••The institute for
health care informatics,
said 2011 was a
breakthrough for the
drug industry.
•In 2011 , 34 new
medicines were
introduced, the most in
a decade, to treat things
like cancer and hepatitis
C.
Patients are struggling to pay for
health care

3. Some Statistics
 The number of prescriptions issued to patients
declined by 1.1% compared to 2010.
 Visits to the doctor fell by 4.7%
 Visits to the Emergency Room increased by 7.4% in
2011.
 The reports author suggested the increase in ER
visits was linked to the loss of health insurance
resulting from long term unemployment.

4. Michael Kleinrock
 Michael Kleinrock (director of research
development, which consults for the drug industry)
said that his research showed that some people with
health insurance at the beginning of the recession
increased their visits to the doctor, Out of fear they
would soon lose insurance.
 The economy failed to recover and now more people
reset their expectations about how often they will use
their medicine.

5. •Older Americans, are
using fewer medicines to
cut back on costs.
•Prescriptions for
patients 65 and older
declined by 3.1% last
year.
•The biggest declines
were drugs to treat high
blood pressure, and
Osteoporosis.
•They are cutting back
on medicines that wont
necessarily have
symptoms after you stop
taking them. Older Americans struggling to pay
for health care

6. Prescription Drugs
 Older Americans are rationing their care because
they are struggling to pay raising bills on fixed
incomes.
 The total out-of-pocket spending on medicines
dropped to $9.7 billion, from $11.5 billion in 2010
 The prices for brand–name drugs had jumped in
recent years. Driving up costs for people with
medical conditions.

7. •Young adults aged 19-25
were using more
prescription drugs.
•Prescriptions for those
patients rose by 2%
compared to 2010
•Mr. Kleintock said this
was because the health
care law that took effect in
September 2010 allowed
children under 26 to be
covered by their parents
health care plan.
•2.5 million people have
taken advantage of that
benefit.
•The biggest increase
among young adults were Health care and its outcome on
antidepressants and drugs
to treat attention deficit young adults
hyperactivity disorder.

8. Final slide
THIS REPORT ALSO FOUND THAT SEVERAL
IMPORTANT MEDICINES INTRODUCED IN
2011 COULD HELP AN ESTIMATED 2.5
MILLION PEOPLE DIAGNOSED WITH
MEDICAL CONDITIONS EACH YEAR, AND 20
MILLION WHO ARE CURRENTLY LIVING
WITH THE DISEASES.