ArticlePloS one2021
The effect of pharmaceutical co-payment increase on the use of social assistance-A natural experiment study.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Austerity, economic hardship and access to medications: a repeated cross-sectional population survey study, 2013-2020.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in insulin initiation among individuals with type 2 diabetes - A quasi-experimental nationwide register study.SSM - population health · 2022Article
- Citizens' opinions and experiences related to costs and reimbursements for medications in times of retrenchment: cross-sectional population surveys in 2015 and 2017.International journal for equity in health · 2022Article
- The impact of national comprehensive medical reform on residents' medical expenses: Evidence from China.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Health care out-of-pocket payments can create barriers to access or lead to financial distress. Out-of-pocket expenditure is often driven by outpatient pharmaceuticals. In this nationwide register study, we study the causal relationship between an increase in patients' pharmaceutical expenses and financial difficulties by exploiting a natural experiment design arising from a 2017 reform, which introduced higher co-payments for type 2 diabetes medicines in Finland. With difference-in-differences estimation, we analyze whether the reform increased the use of social assistance, a last-resort financial aid. We found that after the reform the share of social assistance recipients increased more among type 2 diabetes patients than among a patient group not affected by the co-payment increase, suggesting the reform increased the use of social assistance among those subject to it. The results indicate that increases in patients' pharmaceutical expenses can lead to serious financial difficulties even in countries with a comprehensive social security system.
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