Impact of Copayment Changes on Children's Albuterol Inhaler Use and Costs after the Clean Air Act Chlorofluorocarbon Ban.
Health Serv Res
; 53(1): 156-174, 2018 02.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27868200
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To examine changes in children's albuterol use and out-of-pocket (OOP) costs in response to increased copayments after the Food and Drug Administration banned inhalers with chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants.SETTING:
Four health maintenance organizations (HMOs), two that increased copayments for albuterol inhalers that went from generic CFC-containing to branded CFC-free versions, and two that retained generic copayments for CFC-free inhalers (controls). We included children with asthma aged 4-17 years with commercial coverage from 2007 to 2010.DESIGN:
Interrupted time series with comparison series. DATA We obtained enrollee and plan characteristics from enrollment files, and utilization data from pharmacy and medical claims; OOP expenditures were extracted from pharmacy claims for two HMOs with cost data available.FINDINGS:
There were no significant differences in albuterol use between the group with increased cost-sharing and controls with respect to changes after the policy change. There was a postpolicy increase of $6.11 OOP per month per child using albuterol among those with increased cost-sharing versus $0.36 in controls; the difference between groups was significant (p < .01).CONCLUSIONS:
Increased copayments for brand-name CFC-free albuterol after the CFC ban did not lead to a decrease in children's albuterol use, but it led to a modest increase in OOP costs.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Asma
/
Nebulizadores e Vaporizadores
/
Custo Compartilhado de Seguro
/
Clorofluorcarbonetos
/
Albuterol
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article