Cross-posted at Family Inequality.
Poverty is usually described as a status, as there are people below and above the poverty line. We need to do more to capture and represent the experience of poverty.
There are ways this can be done even in a single survey question, such as this one: ”During the past 12 months, was there any time when you needed prescription medicine but didn’t get it because you couldn’t afford it?” Below are the percentages answering affirmatively, by official poverty-line status.
Percentage of Adults Aged 18-64 Who Did Not Get Needed Prescription Drugs Because of Cost, by Poverty Status (National Health Interview Survey, 1999-2010)
This is not the same as not having any of the prescription drugs you need. What it indicates is economic insecurity rather than deprivation per se, a more nuanced measure than simply being above or below (some percentage of) the poverty line.
Comments 3
Weiwen Ng — December 18, 2011
I work in health policy. If this were someone's corticosteroid inhaler, that's not necessarily too worrying - I didn't fill one prescription for one of those steroid powder inhalers because my stupid drug plan charged me $60, in the non-preferred tier.
If you have something like diabetes, HIV or cancer, though, that's really worrying. In fact, that could be fatal.
The term for not fulfilling a medication regimen used to be "compliance." In recognition that not all forms of non-compliance are due to factors within an individual's full control, people tend to say "adherence" these days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compliance_(medicine)
Unfortunately, it turns out that even in the absence of cost barriers, medication adherence isn't what it could be, but that's another story.
cheap bras — January 29, 2012
Amazing write-up! This could aid plenty of people find out more about this particular issue. Are you keen to integrate video clips coupled with these? It would absolutely help out. Your conclusion was spot on and thanks to you; I probably won’t have to describe everything to my pals. I can simply direct them here!
Walgreens Survey — August 20, 2023
Are you faced issues while shopping at Walgreens Pharmacy? Take part in the WalgreensListens.Com Survey to give your valuable feedback and get the chance to win a $3000 reward from the pharmacy.