ArticleHealth services research2014
Has Medicare Part D reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prescription drug use and spending?
Article in Health services research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pharmaceutical policies: effects of regulating drug insurance schemes.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Medicare Part D's Effects on Drug Utilization and Out-of-Pocket Costs: A Systematic Review.Health services research · 2017Pooled it
- Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Managing Prescription Drug Costs Among Older Adults in Medicare.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Effects of Part D Senior Savings Model on healthcare costs among the Medicare population.Journal of pharmaceutical health services research : an official journal of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain · 2025Article
- Do MA plans follow incentives to attract enrollee groups with new supplemental benefits?Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- Prescription Drug Utilization and Spending by Race, Ethnicity, Payer, Health Condition, and US State.JAMA health forum · 2025Article
- Effects of the Part D Senior Savings Model on racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare costs.Current medical research and opinion · 2025Article
- Life Course Patterns of Prescription Drug Use in the United States.Demography · 2023Article
- Racial/ethnic disparities in the enrollment of Medication Therapy Management programs among Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.Current medical research and opinion · 2022Article
- The impact of expanding health insurance coverage for anti-cancer drugs on cancer survival in Korea.Cancer medicine · 2021Article
- The impact of Medicare part D on income-related inequality in pharmaceutical expenditure.International journal for equity in health · 2019Article
- Association of a Policy Mandating Physician-Patient Communication With Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Postmastectomy Breast Reconstruction.JAMA surgery · 2017Article
- Do Insurance Mandates Affect Racial Disparities in Outcomes for Children with Autism?Maternal and child health journal · 2017Article
- Racial and Ethnic Differences in Initiation and Discontinuation of Antidementia Drugs by Medicare Beneficiaries.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2016Article
- How Did Medicare Part D Affect Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Drug Coverage?The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2016Article
- Impact of Medicare Part D on Racial and Ethnic Minorities.Diversity and equality in health and care · 2016Article
- A Review of the Use of Medicare Claims Data in Plastic Surgery Outcomes Research.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2015Article
- Mandated coverage of preventive care and reduction in disparities: evidence from colorectal cancer screening.American journal of public health · 2015Article
- Effects of medicare part d on disparity implications of medication therapy management eligibility criteria.American health & drug benefits · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate whether Medicare Part D has reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prescription drug utilization and spending. DATA: Nationally representative data on white, African American, and Hispanic Medicare seniors from the 2002-2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey are analyzed. Five measures are examined: filling any prescriptions during the year, the number of prescriptions filled, total annual prescription spending, annual out-of-pocket prescription spending, and average copay level. STUDY
designWe apply the Institute of Medicine's definition of a racial/ethnic disparity and adopt a difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) estimator using a multivariate regression framework. The treatment group consists of Medicare seniors, the comparison group, adults without Medicare aged 55-63 years. PRINCIPAL
findingsDifference-in-difference-in-differences estimates suggest that for African Americans Part D increased the disparity in annual spending on prescription drugs by $258 (p=.011), yet had no effect on other measures of prescription drug disparities. For Hispanics, DDD estimates suggest that the program reduced the disparities in annual number of prescriptions filled, annual total and out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs by 2.9 (p=.077), $282 (p=.019) and $143 (p<.001), respectively.
conclusionMedicare Part D had mixed effects. Although it reduced Hispanic/white disparities related to prescription drugs among seniors, it increased the African American/white disparity in total annual spending on prescription drugs.
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