Health Care Costs

"Health care costs have skyrocketed over the last several years. The high cost of prescription drugs is one of the major factors affecting the overall cost of health care today. No one is immune from these rising costs. Government, insurance companies, private corporations, and ultimately individual consumers are all affected. But among the hardest hit are senior citizens who often have to stretch fixed incomes to meet a growing need for prescription drugs". (Attorney General's Office)
"A 2001 survey of seniors in eight states found that nearly one in four spent at least $100 per month on their prescription medications. Thirty-one percent of low-income seniors said they dealt with this expense by not filling prescriptions, or by skipping doses of medications to make them last longer. Even patients with severe conditions such as heart disease and diabetes reduced their prescribed amounts of medication because of high out-of-pocket drug costs. Prescription drugs can be life savers if used correctly. But dangerous measures such as these can prolong an illness or medical condition and ultimately increase the cost of treatment. …