A new study by CVS Caremark shows that Massachusetts residents with chronic conditions are more likely than residents of all other states to take generic medication.
Alaska ranks last in terms of patients who obtain the maximum allowable amount of medicine with each refill, New Jersey ranks last with just 57.8 percent of prescriptions filled with generic drugs, and New Mexico ranks last when measuring patients who refill their prescriptions as directed.
According to CVS Caremark, the failure of patients to adhere to their prescriptions layers $290 billion in unnecessary health costs onto a health care system that is crushing federal and state budgets with little sign of abating.
Per CVS Caremark, use of generics is a critical component in determining whether patients are sticking to their prescription regimen because the cost of brand-name drugs can be a deterrent. Patients also tend to stick to mail-order prescriptions more closely than they do to prescriptions they need to pick up at retail outlets.
More than half of Americans suffer from a chronic disease, contributing to 75 percent of the country’s health care costs.
